DIY Vintage Book Page Wreath

I have seen these beautiful wreaths on Etsy and Pinterest.

It looked too difficult to do myself, but I wanted to try

and found it was pretty easy,

 just time consuming.

It took me a total of about 3 hours...

but I watched "Downton Abbey" as I worked,

so it wasn't bad at all!

I have broken down the steps below:

Find an old book, one that you don't mind cutting up.

This was from the 1920's, yellowed pages and several with writing in them.

Slice down the binding

and remove sections of the pages as carefully as you can.

You will need about 100 pages.

Then carefully trim off the edges to make them straight and clean.

Since my book is very old, the papers are crisp and tear easily,

be careful!

Starting at the top right corner,

grab between your fingers and roll into a cone shape.

This will take some practice!

Tape the end to the cone.

Staple each cone about 1-1/2" from the end,

with the cone point and opening on the top.

This is the section you will glue down to the wreath.

(I marked my stapler with a piece of tape to the point I wanted each cone stapled.

This made it easy to make them all even.)

Do this to ALL the 100 pages.

Select a sturdy base.

I chose a cardboard cut to 14" square.

Draw two circles -

I used two kitchen plates.

The smaller circle should be at least 4" shorter in diameter.

Mark the circles at: 12; 3; 6 and 9.  Like a clock.

Now start hot gluing the cones to the base,

lining up the staples to the outer circle.

Gluing down the first four at the marks you made earlier,

then filling in.

Now for the second row.

Again, glue down the first four at 12; 3; 6 and 9.

Lining up the staples with the second circle

(which happens to be where the ends of the previous cones are).

Fill in between.

Now I did a third ring,

following the same guidelines.

You can stop at this point and "fill in" the center

with buttons, Christmas balls, etc....

or continue with one more round as I did,

using 1/2 sheet cones.

Simply cut your pages in half,

and roll up, tape and staple as before.

Hot glue your final row in.

This is what the back looks like.

Glue in a center using

buttons, beads, baubles, whatever you like.

Attach a bow securely to the back

and hang.

Remember this is a VERY fragile decoration.

Display in a dry place

away from water as well as flame,

and store it in a box with moth balls or cedar.

Enjoy!