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

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