DIY Book Page Wreath by Brian Carreno

Have you seen those wreaths made from book pages? 

 A guy who works with my husband is quite crafty and made one.  He was kind enough to share the lovely details with us.  See below:

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Supplies:

1) Hot glue gun 

2)  Styrofoam wreath/wheel 

3)  Craft paint (color depends on what feel you’re going for.  I choose red and silver for Christmas, but you can go with grey/brown for an aged look) 

4)  Book(s) (Number of books depends on how thick the book is.  I purchased mine at Dollar Tree for $1.  No fear; they weren’t literary classics.) 

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1.        The wreath would look just as awesome and spectacular being plain book pages; however, to add a subtle hint of color, take the craft paint and paint the edges of the book.  Depending on how subtle you want the color, you can either leave the paint the consistency it is, or water it down some so it seeps into the pages a bit more.  I did duo colors of red and silver, so I let one color dry before applying a bit of the other.  Instead of letting the book air dry out (and because I’m VERY impatient), I took ahair dryer to the book and dried out the pages.

2.       Now we’re ready to start with the Styrofoam wreath/wheel.  I bought mine at the craft store.  I opted for one that was already tubular, but there were some that were rectangular (and cheaper) that could be worked with or shaven with a serrated knife to get the right shape.  Flip the wreath to whichever side you want to be the back.  Tear or cut out a page of the book and, with the colors side out, fold it in a way that creates waves/loops/curls in the page.  The main thing to keep in mind is that you do not want VISIBLE hard creases/folds; you want everything that’s visible to be waves and ruffles. I only creased about the bottom inch of the page, added hot glue between the creases so it’d keep its shape, and then added hot glue to one side of the bottom inch before applying it to the back of the Styrofoam wreath.  You want to create a “halo” of waved/curled/looped pages poking out of the back of the wreath. Before continuing, I wanted to clarify that there are endless ways to curl the paper, but you can take 2-3 pages to create stiffer curls/waves/loops or to create interesting layered curls/waves/loops. 

3.   Turn the wreath over so you’re looking at the front.  On a flat surface (like a table), gently press down on the Styrofoam while making a gentle twisting motion. This will gently flatten any part of the glued pages directly under the Styrofoam and make the rest of the page bend towards the front without creating visible hard creases in the pages.  This will make it easier to attach flush to a wall/door.

4.     Now take more pages and create more curls/waves/loops.  There is a difference in the application of the pages this time.  After putting glue between the creases in the bottom inch like before, completely fold that bottom inch up and crease; this will create an L shape tab to the page.  Apply hot glue to one side of the tab and apply to the Styrofoam.  The tab will allow a part of the page to be flush with the Styrofoam so it holds securely, but it will allow the rest of the page to shoot out away from the Styrofoam.

5.   Work around the wreath in layers by doing step 4 repeatedly.  This will insure you get even coverage.

6.       Now that you’ve covered the wreath, it’s time to create fullness and depth to the wreath.  Taking pages and curling them the way you want, apply drops of hot glue to parts of the pages that allow the page to keep its shape.  It’s not necessary to crease the bottom inch on these pages; however, if see spots where you don’t want the torn edge of the page to be seen, it might be good to crease and glue the bottom inch to create a visual “dead end” to the loop.  You don’t create tabs on these pages because it is not necessary that these pages touch the wreath base.  Applying light hot glue to the outside parts of the wave/loop/curl, gently push the page into gaps you feel need filling.  The page will secure itself with the hot glue to the other pages.  Working around the wreath, you slowly start to create more fullness to the wreath.  Create depth by pushing the pages in at different lengths.

7.       Once you’re done with your wreath, turn it over and hot glue a small loop of ribbon to the base.  This will be the loop on which you hang it on.  Ta-da! Your non-traditional wreath is complete.

Big thanks to Brian for sharing his project with us!

Do you have a wreath project you'd like to share?

Email me!