February 5, 2013

Pointy Cone Book Page Wreath


how to make a book page wreath

Well, I have "pinned" so many book page wreaths on my 
Pinterest board that it's about time I actually MAKE one.
A sponge can only soak up so much water. 

What I started out in my mind to make and what I ended
up with are two different things.  I would say that if 
Miss Mustard Seed's wreath and Euchristea's wreath got
married and had a baby, it might look like my wreath.
how to make a book page wreath
        Miss Mustard Seed                             Eucharistea                                     Miss Kopy Kat

With all this talk about marriage and babies, a little 
genealogy is in order.   Miss Mustard Seed cites that she got
her idea for a book page wreath from Wendy at
 The Shabby Nest blog in 2009.  Wendy cites that she got the
idea from a Pottery Barn catalog.  Eucharistea cites that she
got the idea for her wreath from The Nester who credits
the Living With Lindsay blog. Lindsay says that she saw a 
book page wreath at an arts and craft fair.  

Whew! All the above highlighted links are to the 
actual tutorial which, I found out, is not always easy to locate. 

I didn't have a book I wanted to tear up to make the wreath
so I got one for fifty cents at the thrift store. It was about
20 years old but the pages didn't look old enough for the look
that I wanted, so I aged the pages some more.
how to make paper look old
(This post would have been too long to include that process so I
did another post about that.  If you would like to see it, click on "Aging Book Pages". 

Sorry to tear up your book Mr. Author but I did read some of
it while I was making the wreath. 
tear pages out of books

I had intended to use the whole page to make the cones for
the wreath but I could not figure out how to make the point
come to the center of the cone and it align with the inverse 
point that was made with the edges of the page.  
how to shape a page for a wreath
Looking back, I don't know why I didn't like this. 
(So, now that I have made my first book page wreath, I don't care if the points line up for
future wreaths.  It's like your first baby...everything needs to be just right.  I love that segment
in the original "Parenthood" movie when Steve Martin is talking to the psychiatrist and says
something like: "You know with your first child, you rush it to the emergency room if it gets
a nick or cut.  By the time the third one comes along, you let 'em juggle knives.")

However, I found that if I tore the page in half at its "equator", 
that the point I wanted was easier to accomplish.

Bend the page in half, crease, and tear to give another 
ragged edge to work with, if you like that look. 
tear pages to make a wreath




















Tearing the page in half will, of course, make your cones 
smaller so keep that in mind before you tear. You can still make
a big wreath out of them, but it will take more cones to fill it. 
You can follow this tutorial even if you don't tear the cones.
Your wreath will have longer "rays" on it. 

Decide which of the four points on your page looks the most
interesting...that is the part of the page that will be most visible.
make a book page wreath

With the point towards you, roll the short side of the page
underneath the long side if you want the points lined up.
If you are not a perfectionist, just roll the paper up into a
pleasing looking pointy cone.
book page wreath

Without crushing your "good" point, fold the end of the "bad" 
point down and staple it shut to secure your roll.
My rolls ended up being about 4 1/2" long. 
use a stapler to make a book page wreath

As I went along, I found that horizontal staples on
 the very end held better than vertical ones. 
diy book page wreaths

Some rolls needed  staples on the sides (put them very 
close to the "bad end") to hold it all in place.
book pages into wreaths

Here is the backside of some of the rolls:
paper wreath

Roll up and staple some pointy cones to get you started.

For a wreath base, I just used a piece of cardboard box and
cut 10" circles out of it.  I thought I would need to glue both of them together for strength but one was sufficient.  
base for paper wreath
 With this 10" base, when the wreath was 
finished it was 16' in diameter. 

The original idea was to have a hole in the middle of the wreath
but I wasn't sure how wide to make it to fit the cones, etc.
In the end, I liked it not having a hole so it never got cut
but you certainly could cut a hole in yours.

After all the work that went into tearing, aging, rolling the 
pages, I had "stage fright" to actually start gluing the cones
to the cardboard.  It helped me to do a trial run of just 
placing some cones on the cardboard and playing with 
their arrangement.  I finally took the plunge and put hot
glue on the backside of the cones near the stapled end. 
book page wreath

For the first row, I tried to keep the points about the same 
distance apart.  I used a ruler and measured before gluing... 
"First Baby Syndrome", you know. 
hot glue cones on wreath


old book wreath

The second row did not take measuring.  The points of the rolls 
were placed in the "V" shapes left by the first row of cones. 
cone book page wreath


making a book wreath

By the third row, it was getting crowded so the placement
 of the cones went to "skip two, then glue". 
old paper wreath


page wreaths

If I had wanted a cut out center, this is the time that
 I would have done it...just FYI.  
A confident crafter would have cut it out before
even starting to glue but I wasn't sure how the cone
 placement would work out.  Because I hope to use the wreath
for different occasions/seasons, I decided to not have a hole
but to fill the whole cardboard circle with cones and have a 
center that could be changed out. 
page wreath

To make the center easily interchangeable, a small piece of 
dry florist/craft foam was cut...

...and wrapped like a little present in part of an aged page...
(I used straight pins to hold the paper on the foam, you could probably glue it instead if needed.)

...hot glued the cube and put it in the very center of the wreath. 

The wreath's first holiday to be used for is Valentine's Day.
To go along with the aged paper look, I bought vintage-looking
Valentine cutouts by K&Company to use on the mantle vignette.
(Did I mention that they are ALREADY CUT OUT?  and some are ALREADY GLITTERED? Yeah!)

The little Valentine clown had an outfit that looked nice with
the aged paper so she she got chosen to be the center. 
She got a tiny piece of foam glued onto her back so that it
could be impaled with a toothpick...

...and inserted into the aged-paper-wrapped foam on the wreath.

This way, hopefully, the center of the wreath can be changed 
out as needed without bothering the actual cones. 
Valentine book page wreath

 Miss Mustard Seed's wreath tutorial reminded us to
 "add the ribbon hanger before you start adding cones" but
(in the words of Steve Martin) "I Forgot".  Yikes! Those
paper cones crush easily but gotta turn the wreath on its 
face to add the hanger. Hot glue a piece of ribbon in a loop. 
If you don't mind your ribbon showing, you can make it longer.
how to make a ribbon hanger

After an entire Super Bowl (including the 34 minute blackout)
of gluing (and making some more book page rolls) it is finished!
Valentine book page wreath

vintage Valentines


cones for book wreath


old page wreath


Miss Kopy Kat book wreath

Like a new mother showing off pictures of her firstborn
here are MORE photos:
Vintage valentine mantel
vintage valentine ephemera




books on a mantle

24 comments

  1. Wow! This is so lovely! I just made a paper doily wreath with much the same process (except I didn't age them). The aging on the book pages looks amazing!!

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  2. This is a great tutorial. I really like the look of this. I am definitely going to try it.

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  3. What a great tutorial! You did a fantastic job on the wreath. It truly is one of my favorites of its kind...love the finishing touch. I've loved these but not attempted them yet...your tutorial makes me rethink that. Thanks so much for your visit today.
    melinda

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  4. I'm your new follower...I really like your detailed lessons and what you do is crafty but it looks very sophisticated!

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  5. Wow! I love your version. It is just beautiful.

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  6. Hi, hopped over from Maureen's at "It's All Connected". So sweet of you to send her a new plate. I have made a couple of these wreaths and they are so fun. Love your little Valentine adornment. Happy to be a new follower. I have a link party, Share Your Cup Thursday. I'd love for you to share some time!
    hugs,
    Jann

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  7. I am with you, I have looked at so many of these wreaths too and love them all but haven't had the time to make one. Yours is so perfect and love how you added the vintage Valentine elements. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Kitty, your wreath tutorial is easy to follow. I love how you aged your pages, the look is so romantic. I think it looks perfect, you did a fantastic job! I also love the little wreath with the sweet valentines. Thanks for sharing this, I know where to come for this DIY project.

    ~Emily
    The French Hutch

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  9. this turned out great! I have been thinking about doing this for a while...I might just try it now...thanks for the tutorial!

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  10. I like the idea of changing the centre piece to match the occasion! I keep promising myself I'll do one with sheet music.

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  11. Hi Gayle - I just came by to say how wonderful you are for finding Maureen a replacement dish ( to replace the one she had broken ) You're really incredibly kind -
    May much love come back to you!
    Hugs,
    Suzan
    ( p.s. I accidently lost 1 million dollars - if you could find it in your heart to replace that I would be thrilled to pieces LOL )

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  12. I'm looking for a few vintage Valentine cards to make a cute Valentine's Day wreath I saw on Pinterest. I love yours, and I like how you can change the center!

    By the way...I'm an Alabama blogger, too. We live in Birmingham, but spend TONS of time in Dadeville @ our Lake Martin cabin. :D

    xo,
    RJ

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  13. Book page wreaths are some of my favorite things to make. Yours is just wonderful. I love how you did not remove the center. Pinning for the future.

    Have a great day!
    Angela

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  14. WOWWWWW I've never seen something so beautiful made of aged paper
    I'm simply amazed!!

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  15. I love the wreath! Thanks so much for the tutorial. It is gorgeous and I'll have to give it a try.
    Hugs,
    Patti

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  16. I have been wanting to make one of these, but I didn't want to have to glue :) you just saved me! Love it!
    Debbie

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  17. The wreath turned out wonderful!! Thanks for sharing the tutorial at the Open House party.
    xx, Sherry

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  18. This is glorious! I love the dry and neutral colour of your aged paper, so I'm going to see how you did it. And thatnk yu for taking us to the original source of the wreath, way way back in the History of the Internet! The changable seasonal center is a pretty neat idea.

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  19. I like the way yours came out. That's cool, you can use it for other occasions by changing the center piece.
    I want to decorate my house like that one day (when I have one).

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  20. Loved the tutorial--a time saver for me was to purchase a packet of the cardboard cake dividers. They are already cut to size. I bought several different sizes to add a little flair.

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  21. A few years later, how's it holding up? Nice blog BTW!!
    Decorative Metal Sheets

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  22. When I was young, my mom worked as a key punch operator and used to bring home old used cards. We made wreaths out of them and spray painted them silver and gold. The data cards were perfect for this. Nice weight. Just folded oblong cards to a point on one end & stapled, then stapled unfolded end to cardboard circle.

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  23. Thanks for sharing the tutorial at the Open House party.The wreath turned out wonderful!!
    suonerie samsung

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