1 Glue Gun
1 Large Piece Of Cardboard
Exacto Knife or Scissors
A Marker or Pen
Something round to trace your wreath circle ( I went 100% professional with a round clock that no longer works, I was going to use one of my pots but I didn’t want to get permanent marker on it. OH and I cant leave out the paper plate I used to trace out the middle :D)
Prep
For my cardboard I just used an Empty pop bottom from Flipped it over and used my broken clock to trace a large circle.. You can use really any round household item to trace your circle , it just depends on what size you want your wreath to be! I then used a smaller circle ( a foam dessert plate) to trace out the middle.Then with your exacto knife or scissors cut out the middle circle and the outline.
TaDaa ! I wouldn’t worry too much if there’s a few imperfections, you wont notice those once it is covered anyways!
Once your circle us cut, you should cover the base so that none of the cardboard will be showing! I just ripped out the index of the book I used and cut the page vertically into about 4-5 pieces.
Then I used the hot glue gun to attache all the pieces along the outside like the picture below ↓and then folded the pieces around the cardboard and glued the other side leaving a little excess paper in the middle.
Now its time to fold those cones, for my whole wreath which measured 30 cm around I needed roughly 40 Cones. To Make the cones you need square pieces of paper. What I did , was I cut the pages in half which made for better squares and were easier to make cones with. I did not put glue on the top of the cone however if it sticks out or comes off the cone a bit I would anchor that down with a little dab of glue.
Applying the paper cones
Now that all your cones are done and your wreath base is prepped, you can start gluing your cones! Place hot glue on about 1.5 inches of the bottom part of the cone and working from the outside first place your cone almost right to the end of the wreath base. Place all the cones along the outside until the outside of the wreath is full. For the bottom layer of cones I fold over the pointed edge and glue the base of the cone. Then I placed a little more flue on the bottom of that to stick to the cardboard. Then hot glue about 1..5-2 inches from the bottom and place just above the opening on the wreath like the picture below in picture #3!
As you can see I leave about 1/2 an inch of the paper around the middle. Continue all around until the bottom ring is full
Conrgrats! Your finished and have a lovely piece of home decor that you hand made, the only thing I will say about this project is that making the cones is time consuming, I would say it took me about 45 Minutes to complete this project. I must also add that this wreath actually only cost the 30¢ to make, which was the cost of the glue sticks ( I used 3 glue sticks ). I had the old dictionary just sitting in a box which Ive had since high school and paid nothing for and the pop case is recycled cardboard!
Instead of cardboard you could use a Styrofoam circle which costs $3 or $4 at Michaels Craft Store ( or even cheaper if you use one of their handy % off coupons) which would still keep the cost under $5. Have no books that you are willing to rip up? Used book stores and yard sales are great places to look for vintage books at a bargain price!
Some other great ideas for this wreath are music sheets instead of old novels or Dr. Seuss or Robert Munch books for a child’s room! To add a little extra you could have a banner or bunch of flowers in the middle or an initial of your family name! The sky is the limit with these inexpensive home decor pieces!!
Have you made one of these wreaths? What great ideas and inspiration did you bring into your wreath?
-D
All posts originate from my blog on Wordpress: http://gatesshabbychic.wordpress.com/blog/