Welcome to Life Images by Jill

Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist.
Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.

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Sunday 4 December 2016

How to make a paper wreath

Hi everyone this is my first official craft "how to make....." post. Come on in and join me making a beautiful paper wreath. It can be for Christmas or just to hang on your wall. Or your wreath could be used for a decoration on your table.


I saw a blog about making paper wreaths recently, so I set about making one and ended up making four to sell at my friend's gallery Christmas fare.  The wreath you see above was my favourite - made from a very colourful children's book which was on a second hand sales stall. 

You can make these paper wreaths from old books - Reader's Digest condensed books are ideal (you can often buy them in second hand stores), magazines, sheet music, or even an old atlas.  Use something with a stiff paper. If you don't like the idea of cutting up books, think of it as upcycling and giving it new life.  Craft paper will work well too, but I think paper with pattern or colour on both sides works best.

Ok let's dive in - here's how to make a paper wreath -

You will need - paper or old book to cut up, a cutter, craft glue, hot glue gun, cardboard, a small amount of paint, scissors, lacquer suitable for paper, a piece of string to hand your finished wreath.

Step 1 - cut your pages. I measured my pieces - 14cm ( 5 1/2 inches) x 11cm (4 1/4 inches).  I cut a cardboard template and used a good sharp paper cutter and a cutting mat. The bigger the pieces of paper, the bigger your completed wreath will be.


Step 2 - Glue one of the short edges. A glue stick is fine for this.


Step 3 - Holding your paper on the diagonal, fold the unglued short side inwards


Step 4 - 5 - Wrap the glued edge over and around to the back and stick down.


 Step 6 - 7 - easy! Make about 60-70 cones. A great little thing to do sitting in front of the TV in the evening.



 Step 8 - 9 - cut a circle out of the cardboard. My circle measures 14cm (5 1/2 inches) across. At this point it is probably a good idea to paint the back of the cardboard whatever colour you like - mine were gold, or glue some coloured paper onto the back. 

Now start gluing the cones on in a circle to make your wreath. I used craft glue, but you could use a hot glue gun. Start by dividing the circle into four, then fill in the gaps. The further out you start the bigger your completed wreath will be, and you might need to make more cones.



Step 10 - keep going around in a circle gluing on the cones, building it up as you go. Try to keep as even as possible. You will probably need to flatten the bottom of the cones. As you get in to the centre you will also need to cut off the tips of the cones so they fit into the middle better.



Step 11 - Finished! When you have finished spray with a couple of coats of lacquer to protect the paper.  Thread some string on the back for hanging.





I made four wreaths - one from a Reader's Digest condensed book, one from a magazine, one from a colourful children's book, and one from an old Atlas.  Think of it as up-cylcing! If you don't like the idea of cutting up books, use craft paper.


So how do my wreaths look? Do you think you will give them a go? Let me know if you do. Is there a Christmas craft that you enjoy? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about it in your comments.

And this is where the inspiration came for these wreaths - RedAgape
Thank you so much Mandy for sharing.   In Mandy's tutorial she used double sided tape to make the cones, and then stapled the bottom of the cones down. I didn't think this was really necessary. 
Mandy lives in Millthorpe, a heritage town, just outside of Orange in New South Wales, Australia. There are lots of craft ideas on Mandy's web page if you'd like to take a look.

Made from old school Atlas
Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

 

Mosaic Monday 
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Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
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19 comments:

  1. Something new for me. It looks great.

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  2. Wonderful - and I especially love the one made from the old school atlas!
    Wren x

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    1. fabulous isn't it. A friend suggested sheet music too which would be fabulous for a muso.

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  3. Fab project, wonderful tutorial, hope you'll do more in the future. I probably won't try it myself as my hands don't do what they used to thanks to arthritic fingers but I'm guessing other MM participants will be having a go once they've seen yours.

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  4. Fun fun fun and nice tutorial. thank you! happy monday!

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  5. They turn out so beautiful and looks like a craft for any of us. Thanks for sharing your instructions. Holiday hugs, Diane

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  6. Very cool!! There used to be a shop here that sold all sorts of crafts made out of cut up books, or music, or other printed matter. I loved the stuff they sold there but they didn't have anything as cool as your wreath.

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    1. I make flowers too. So many things you can do to upcycle books.

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  7. Beautiful wreaths, Jill. The colourful one created from children's book covers is gorgeous.

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  8. Great I like it! I think my daughter loves this too. Thank you so much! #image-in-ing

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  9. This is such a wonderful project and I am taking notes. We have such a small place and I just created a new door wreath as I cannot find the new one I created from last year...lol...old age, or something. I want to show this to my daughters though, as I think they would enjoy doing this with the grands. They may not turn our as perfectly, but what fun to do something like this together. You are so talented. Hugs!!!

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    1. yes a lovely project for the winter holidays Mary.

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  10. I didn't imagine it was so easy (well, it looks like that on your tutorial) to make these. I have seen similar ones on art and crafts shows. I will need to give this project a try. #WordlessWednesday

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  11. Wow! you were so productive! I made one out of yarn pom poms :) cheers from kidcandoodle

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  12. Nice! I've also seen them done up to your step 10 photo which is quite effective. I might have to give this one a go, I've been thinking on it since I saw them at the local library a few years ago. The one on our front door is made with ribbon tied around a ring with some bells tied on as well. I do love Christmas crafting.

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    1. your door wreath sounds beautifully simply but very effective.

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  13. Your wreath is simply gorgeous Jill. My attempts at things like this never seem to turn out quite like the pics! :) #TeamLovinLife

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I hope you have enjoyed your visit to my blog. Thank you for stopping by and for taking the time to comment. I read and very much appreciate every comment and love hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return.