Sharing the Joy: Weekend Crafting

Of course, we all know that this blog is the blog of a book addict and when I came across this wreath project...well, fireworks went off! LOL!

Book Leaf Wreath

Materials:
~foam wreath

~a book (a cheap paperback would work well) 

~hot glue gun/glue sticks 

~scissors 

~pencil 

~ribbon 

~straight pins

Step 1:
Tear out a page from your book, and fold it in half width-wise.  Fold the page again in half.

Step 2:

Draw a leaf shape onto the folded paper. You could cut out a cardboard template if you want, but I just freehanded mine. I like the variety of shapes and sizes from drawing them by hand.  Then cut out the leaf. You will get 4 leaves from one sheet of paper.

Step 3:

Cut out a bunch of leaves and fold them in half down the middle.  I don't know how many leaves I used for the wreath, (maybe 100?) because I cut them out as I needed them.

Step 4:
Get out your hot glue gun and extra glue sticks. You might want to lay some newspaper under your work surface so the glue doesn't get all over. You'll run a line of glue across the foam wreath and layer 4-5 leaves across it.  I used the eraser end of a pencil to push the paper onto the hot glue.  Once the glue dries a bit, you can add another layer about an inch further up on the wreath, making sure the ends of the leaves are all pointing in the same direction. You'll be overlapping them.

Step 5:
When you come to the end of your wreath, you'll need to put glue on the tips of individual leaves and tuck them into the gap.  Use the pencil eraser again to fill in the gaps and push leaves in place. You can also add more leaves around the edges to hide any of the foam circle that may be showing.  As long as all the leaves are going in the same direction, it will look great!

Step 6:
Make a hanger for the back of the wreath by pinning a scrap of ribbon into the foam on the back.  There are other ways you can hang the wreath, like wrapping a ribbon around it and hanging it that way. I opted for a hidden hanger.

Step 7:
If you'd like to add a simple bow, here's what I did. I took a 2 foot length of red grosgrain ribbon, a wire twist tie and two straight pins folded the ribbon into loops and wound the twist tie around them in the middle.  I covered the twist tie with some of the end of the ribbon and wound the tie around it to keep it in place. Then I fluffed up the bow and pinned it to the front of the wreath with the pins. Easy!

To see the full project, including images that show each step and ideas for how to display your wreath, visit Katydid and Kid:  Adventures in Making and Doing.

Part of....

Always in spirit....