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Book Page Wreath

I’ve gotten so far behind on writing up d.i.y. projects, so it’s time to play catch up!!

It thought I’d start off today with a pretty easy (and cheap) one–the book wreath that I used in J & A’s master bedroom.  And please be so kind as to overlook the paint on my hands.  Let’s face it…my hands are always covered in something–paint, caulk, grout…something.  Manicures are wasted on me.

The supplies I used include a 12-inch wreath form, a glue gun/glue sticks, a book, and a tea bag.

First, I wanted to “age” the edges of the book pages, so I used a wet tea bag and dabbed it on the edges of the pages.  I learned quickly that rubbing the tea bag on the pages is a very bad idea, as it tears the bag and leaves little brown tea leaf particles everywhere.  But dabbing the bag on the edges of the pages worked great.

Then I tore out the pages one by one.  I folded them any which way–some I rolled, some I folded accordion-style.  There was really no rhyme or reason to it.

But once it was folded how I wanted it, I placed a line of glue at the bottom…

And then folded it up just a little to keep the folds in place.

Beginning on the inside of the wreath, I glued these pages under the wreath, and then wrapped them up the center so that they were sticking out through the hole.  I used as much glue as needed to keep them in place.

Once the inside was filled it, it looked like this.

Next I moved on to the outside of the wreath.  I used the same rolling technique with the pages, but this time I just let them stick straight out.

I folded any which way…

Placed glue on the bottom edge…

Turned up to secure the folds…

And then glued the page to the wreath.  This is what the wreath looked like once I had all of the middle ring finished and the outermost ring finished…

From there, it was just a matter of filling in the empty areas.  As I moved towards the top of the wreath, I realized that using whole pages was making the pages stick out too far for my liking, so I began tearing the pages in half so they wouldn’t stick out so far.

And I also realized that on these “filler” pages, there’s no need to fold up the bottom edge to hold the folds, as the pages surrounding each page will do that job.  So, I tore the page in half, folded it any which way, placed glue on the bottom, and then stuck it into the wreath where it was needed.

One other thing I did was simply crinkle the edges of the pages just using my hand and pressing down on the edges of the pages.  It worked great since they were still a little wet from the “aging” process with the wet tea bag.

When all of the wreath was filled in, the last step was to make a hanger for the back.  I used a piece of bias tape leftover from a previous project.  I simply made a loop, and then glued it to the back of the wreath.  Just as an extra measure, I also secured it with two straight pins.  If you don’t have bias tape, you can use ribbon, jute, or any number of things to make the hanger.

Then hang, and enjoy!

I’ll also point out that you don’t have to make the wreath as full as I did.  I’ve seen some book wreaths that used considerably fewer pages than I used.  It’s just a matter of preference, and for me, more is better!!

 

 

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15 Comments

  1. lol…Dee, the candles are about eight inches from the wreath. I promise, there's no danger of the wreath catching on fire. And the flames are out now. 🙂

  2. I am LOVIN this…It amazes me what "you crafty people" can do! 😉 I am truly in awe and am SO grateful for the detailed pics…makes it easier for a big ole goober like me to try & copy. I am gonna have to get a GW book & do this! It has such great texture.

    Be blessed,
    Karyl

  3. Amazing, thanks for sharing, I'm looking for some easy cheap ideas and I think I've found the place to hang out! I'm needing to do a bit of staging but don't have a large budget.

  4. Thanks! Just left a message for you on HGTV.com, so you can disregard it now that I found this one! I am a reading teacher who used to do dried floralfor aliving and am just finishing up an addition. This is PERFECT for me. Perhaps I'll use a dictionary…

  5. Just found your blog and I am very inspired!!! Your so talented and I can't wait to make this wreath thanks for the inspiration<3

  6. Just found your blog and I am very inspired!!! Your so talented and I can't wait to make this wreath thanks for the inspiration<3

  7. i love working with old book pages! thank you for the tutorial…making this tomorrow with a friend.. and I love that your cat is in one of the photos. lol