Book Page Wreath {Tutorial}

Ever since I saw this tutorial I wanted to make one!  So I stopped by Goodwill to get an old book, Dollar Tree for a foam wreath and got to work.

Buy/find an old hard bound book and start ripping pages out. I used about 100 for mine.  My great friend Tara (and roommate through college) started this project with me.  She was kind enough to tear out my pages (while I made dinner for her, Brett and I).  Like I said, I got my book from Goodwill for just $.50.

Once you have your pages ripped out, figure out how you want them folded.  We folded ours like the other tutorial.  It's too hard to explain so here's some pictures.

Basically you make a circle and have a flap below it.  The circles will be facing out, making a nice fluffy wreath.  

Start gluing!  This layer will be the back of your wreath so glue the circle side to the foam wreath.  I didn't get this at first so mine are both ways, but if you want to do it right that's how.  It bugs me that some of mine are wrong even though you can't even see it!  Make sure you have a little less than an inch hanging over the edge.  You will later flip this down.  Also, I recommend using the same edge of the paper facing out.  I used the bound edge so it has some character.

Now flip the wreath over & begin working on the front.  Figure out where you will put glue so the page is about the length of the other layer.  You will be putting glue towards the back of the wreath.  See second picture so it makes a little more sense.

After you glue towards the back of the wreath, glue down the edge of the page towards the front. 

Continue folding and gluing (I suggest catching up on TV or talking with a friend/husband while doing this project).

Once that top layer is done, fold the back layer up and glue it down.

This is what it will look like with the two layers.

Start on the next (of many) layers.  Each time, come closer in (and eventually going to the back of the wreath.  If you notice empty spots, don't worry.  You can fill them in when all your layers are done.  

Here's mine after the 3rd layer.

With each new layer move it towards the back of the wreath a little more than the previous layer (like below).

After my layers this is what the back looked like.  The amount of layers that should go on depends on your preferences of how full you would like it.  

After I completed the layers, there were spots that seemed empty.  To fill in the spaces fold a page like you have been and trim some off.  Put glue on the small flap and fill in the empty spots.

Here's my wreath after adding all the layers and filling the empty spots.  I'm in love!

But I decided I wanted my wreath to look a little more aged so I inked the edges with brown ink (leftover from my many wedding projects) and a makeup sponge.  

I love what the ink adds to it!

To hang the wreath I pinned brown ribbon (also wedding leftover) to the back.  I didn't measure the ribbon because I just eyeballed it based on how much I wanted to show above the wreath.

I also hot glued the ribbon above the pins so the wreath and ribbon would be flush with the wall.

The beautiful finished wreath!  It is a bit time consuming, but totally worth it because it is so cheap!  It's on my list to hang this weekend.

Supplies:

Foam Wreath - $1

Book - $.50

Glue gun - on hand

Ink pad - on hand

Ribbon - on hand

Total - $1.50!!


I'm linking up with Emily at Jones Design Company, my inspiration for the wreath.