My surprise statement piece!

First of all, hi! Yes, its been a while since I’ve written. I know you guys can all agree that the longer you stay away from the blog, the harder it is to start up because you have SO MUCH to say. Bleh! Tons of new Bridget pics to come, as well as her…wait for it…18 month picture (insert sniffles from me here). For now, I’ve been dying to show my new crafty project. Well, here it goes:

I saw the coolest craft idea on my friend, Stacy’s blog last month. Check her out! You’ll love all the pics of her adorable son, Jack :) Actually, she had a number of cool ideas and I had to narrow it down to just one for now since things have been so crazy around here. Thanks so much for the ideas, Stacy!

You all may already know about it, but I had never heard of these “book paper wreaths” and think they are so cool. Best part? It cost me a whopping $1.00. Wahoo! A wreath this size could cost me hundreds on Etsy on in a shop, so I’m thrilled to have my $1.00 prize hanging over one of my mantels.

Of course, I’d planned on having a nice wreath to replace my winter scene that, yes, was still hanging on the door due to this wild weather we’ve been experiencing. It also just so happened that I was hosting a book club at my house that week and thought the book page wreath would be the perfect welcome wagon for our guests. Sadly, it took me a little too long to make so I didn’t get it done in time for the event :(. Good thing, because it ended up being ENORMOUS and way too big to fit behind our storm door. Here’s how to make your own, and even a tip for making it a little smaller :)

Materials:

Old book (I used a law volume from my Dad’s office that was being replaced)

Glue gun

LOTS of glue sticks (with mine, I used about 20)

Ribbon for hanging

Round wreath (foam is best, but I had about 10 mins alone to run to Dollar Tree and they only had grapevine wreaths so that’s what I used. It’s the only thing I didn’t already have!)

I hear a 9 in wreath works great for size. I was limited so I had to get a 10 or 12 one. Hmmm…reasons for its gynormous size :)

Step 1: Tear out your book pages (If you have a paper cutter, you can cut off an inch or so off the long side of the pages to keep your depth in check…again…reasons for my huge wreath!)

 

Step 2: Roll your pages into tubes and place a dab of hot glue on the open end to help seal (there are tons of other ways to shape your pages, all of which change the look of the wreath. just google some how-tos to see what you like best. this technique seemed the easiest for me so I went with it!)

Step 3: Glue the bottom of your roll and stick flat on your wreath. Continue all the way around the circle until you have your first layer. When complete, turn over the whole thing.

This will serve as your back layer.

Step 4: Continue in the same manner with additional layers, though all middle layers will require you to fold the bottom of the paper roll so you can accommodate as many layers as possible. That makes your wreath as full as it can be!

Step 5: Keep filling, and filling, and filling, and gluing, and gluing, and gluing (since mine was so big, it took about 2 hours total to complete)….and then….tah-dah!

(Step 6: oops! I forgot to mention that I attached some ribbon that I had at home to the back of the wreath to hang it. I’d like to reinforce it with some hanging wire, but for now its hanging fine just with hot glue)

       

I think its so pretty and fits PERFECTLY on my big mantel. Whee!

 

Here’s a few examples of other wreaths I’ve seen online:

I’d love to do this sheet music one for Jonathan’s office at school (of course, it would hang on his female boss’ side of the room…let’s be real)

Wow! This one certainly took a lot of time. Maybe that’s why its $65 on Etsy :) Super cute, though!