Monday, January 31, 2011

This Book Page Wreath Is A Literary Genius

I kept seeing these wreaths, look here, here, and here, all over the internet and darn it I wanted in! They reminded me of all these Jane Austin movies I like to watch. They’re just so romantic looking! *Swoon* So, I set out to find some tutorials on the subject of paper wreaths. There were about one billion tutorials out there! LOL I’m great with numbers. ; ) Anywho, I got the breadth and depth of these tutorials and through just plain laziness and hardheadedness watching them I was able to help myself come up with a system that worked for me. (truthfully, I didn’t have staples left and so I had to do it the hard and sticky way- using glue)

I took an old literature book that was ready for Goodwill and sadly (I’m a book junky!) tore the pages out of it. My wreath has excerpts from Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, The Great Gatsby, etc. Don’t feel bad, they were just a collection of story excerpts from an anthology and the word “anthology” is quickly become a curse word in the educational system. (that’s how I rationalize the destruction of books because I’m a BOOK JUNKY!) So as I was saying, I took the pages out and rolled each page into a funnel. These funnels would normally be stapled at the bottom; this would be the easy way. My way involved the use of Modge Podge and extremely sticky fingers. I suggest you use staples. I cursed a lot during this process!

Look Ma no staples.

After about one trillion funnels, you are ready to begin assembling a wreath. Oh I forgot to tell you what you will need as a base. I basically took a piece of cardboard and cut out a circle about eight inches in diameter. This cardboard circle is what you will use to glue all your funnels onto.

I'll be using the leftover carcass of this book for another project.

Basically, you go around the perimeter of the cardboard base and attach these funnels with glue. I flattened the bottoms a bit to make them adhere better. You just continue gluing and spacing them evenly all the way around until you are done with that level. Then, you move onto the inner level doing the same thing as before only staggered lower so the first layer of funnels is exposed. You can continue doing this as long as your patience holds up. Mine didn’t so I cut things short and left a bald spot in the center. I had other plans for this bald spot. (I think I need to work on patience this year.)

I measured the middle of the wreath and found the diameter to be about four inches, so I cut a four inch circle from some pretty scrapbooking paper I had on hand. Then I wanted to add a Valentine message in the center of that, so I went to my Silhouette (we have a complex relationship her and I) and using a font that I thought looked romantic, I cut out the word “love”.* I glued this onto the pretty scrapbooking paper circle and the wreath was done. So easy; right?


Mama likes.

It looked so swoon worthy that I decided to hang it over my living room mirror from this post. I just love how it looks and the cost of it (free) works for me.


My little heart goes pitter patter!

The best thing about these little wreaths is the versatility. They can be used for any holiday even Father’s Day! (I’m thinking newspaper print, golf scrapbooking paper, argyle patterns, little paper tools, you get the idea.)


*I typed the word love and then I had to use the weld option on the Silhouette. If you don’t weld the letters together, the machine will cut each letter individually.

I urge you to go forth and try to make one. Get your kids to make the funnels! They’ll think they’re having fun. They don’t have to know they’re doing your dirty work.




Nydia 8)

I've linked this over here:

The Shabby Chic Cottage






1 comment:

  1. I have seen this before...you did a nice job, I'm scared to try it...LOL.

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