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Monday, September 30, 2013

Repurposed Book Page Wreath


I just LOVE old books. I love collecting them. Using them in displays in my home and shop. I like using them to add height to a vignette. But even better.....I love to make things from them!

Especially the ones with missing covers. They are often tossed aside, thrown away and never appreciated...UNTIL NOW!

 
These look FABULOUS when added to your décor! Hang on your door, above the mantel.....you decide. I OFTEN get asked how I made them, so I made a little tutorial here for you to try your hand at it!
 
You start with a simple circle out of cardboard. I happened to have a stack of it, but you could use anything from an cereal box to the back of a notebook.
 
Here I just used a bowl I had to trace a circle. You decide how big or small you want it to be. Mine is about the size of a dinner plate.

 
When you are finished cutting out your circle, find a smaller dish to trace a smaller circle inside. Draw a big dot in the center (just eyeball this...its really ok).
 
Then make four hash marks around the edges at the 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock spots.
 
These are your "guides"---trust me, you want to take the time to do this step. They help guide you and ensures that your wreath comes out symmetrical and not lop-sided.....I learned this the hard way!
 

Now you begin tearing out the pages (remember you can also make these with sheet music too!) Then START ROLLING! You will roll each page into a cone and simply secure with a piece of tape--don't worry, it won't show once the wreath is put together.

You need to roll LOTS and LOTS of these. It is a great thing to do while watching TV. For my wreaths I end up needing about 50-60 cones :)


Now that you are SICK of rolling cones (hee hee). It's time to bring back that cardboard circle you make. Use the inner circle as your guide for how far these will go to the center and hot glue one cone on each of your hash marks.

 
Now simply fill in each "section" between your initial four cones with MORE cones. It should then look like the above picture.
 
 
 
Next, use the center dot that you drew as the guide for placing the top row of cones. Start by placing four. Eyeballing their placement at approximately 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock (like the first row but much closer together now)
 
Then proceed with filling in each section with cones!
 
When you get done with this layer, YOU can decide what to do in the center. You could go forward with another layer. For this next photo I folded my extra cones in half and hot glued them in "standing up"
 


 
Just keeping tucking and glue-ing until you get a look you are happy with.
 

Here I just crumpled up some burlap ribbon and hot glued it in and them glued in random bobbles and pearls.


Have FUN with it! Experiment, tuck, stuff, fluff.....just play. It is easy, just time consuming but in the end you will be PROUD of what you made :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! Be sure to become a follower to keep up with MORE TUTORIALS, Home Décor ideas and of course my shop ONE VINTAGE LANE in beautiful Hartville, Ohio. Be sure to visit my facebook page at www.facebook.com/onevintagelane