I finally got around to one the crafts that has been on my project list for a very long time – the book page wreath...
I have to be honest. This project was a serious time commitment. I had no clue it was going to take me an entire weekend and multiple severe hot glue burns to make my wreath. Not kidding about the glue burns. There is so much glue involved in this project that you are guaranteed to walk away with a few injuries. But all in all, it was worth the pain and the time. I am totally obsessed with my newest addition to our dining room.
Now, there are a million tutorials out there, but I had a hard time finding a tutorial with very clear instructions. This project can get a little confusing so I am going to show y’all how I made my wreath.
You will need:
Styrofoam wreath
1-2 books
Stapler
Glue gun & glue sticks
I wanted my wreath to be huge, so I used a 16 inch Styrofoam wreath. You can also use a straw or stick wreath. I also wanted my wreath to look a bit aged instead of bright white, so I picked up a 1952 Baptist Hymnal from a local antique store. You will need a ton of pages, so make sure you get a very long book or two books just to be safe. My hymnal was 500 pages and I used almost the entire book.
Here comes the fun part. Rip out all your pages. Curl each page into the shape of a cone and staple it at the end. This step literally took me over 4 hours and an entire bottle of wine.
Here is a close up of the cones.
Hot glue the very back row FACE DOWN on the back of the wreath. As you add more rows you’ll be working forward.
Next, hot glue another round of cones in between your first row. I glued this row of petals a little higher.
Now glue a third row. Make sure you fill in any gaps. The fuller, the better.
Now flip your wreath over and admire. Flip it back over and fill in any gaps you didn’t see before.
This is a good time to add a string for hanging. I used a thick strand of jute.
Now start adding rows to the front. You can stick to a pattern, or just glue them wherever you want {which is what I did}. Make sure each row is a bit shorter than the last. Trim the tails off, or glue them down.
Here is what the back of my wreath looked like after a few rows. After each row, I flipped it over and glued the tails down.
I made smaller cones for my inner-most row. After you finish your last row, fill in any gaps. You are done! Go hang that beauty!
Such a ham! I swear he does this on purpose.
Charlie models that wreath so well! Such a cute project. That's how I felt about the wine cork wreath that went around pinterest for a while…the darn thing took forever and a day, but we love it!
You are so disciplined! I unfortunately do not have this kind of free time lately, but honestly, even if I did–this is quite a commitment! It looks FANTASTIC and I love that you used aged pages. If I DID craft like this, though, I'd be crafting at your house! (Umm, did someone say WINE??) 🙂 Charlie is so cute!
I totally love how it turned out, and especially love how you used pages from an old hymnal. My parents are both church organists, so I might have to try and make one of these for them. Oh and I wanted to let you know that I made a wreath similar to your spring wreath over the weekend. I love how it turned out and am going to post it on my blog later this week. Thanks so much for the inspiration 🙂
lady, you impress me with all your crafty ways…i wish i had half as much talent in that area as you do!!! my wreath would look like a hot mess!!! great job
Awww…he does photograph well!I LOVE that you used a hymnal. This looks great, but I may be too lacking on patience to attempt. 🙂
Soooo cute! I can tell that it is definitely time consuming but, it doesn't look very hard. I'm hoping I can do something similar with our left over wedding invitations & stuff! You did such a great job though & love the idea of the old hymnal!
Turned out beautifully!
it turned out so well! I will definitely be using your tutorial for this!
Love love love it!!!!!
Love this. It will look great in our guest room!
Looks beautiful!!! Isn't it always the projects that seem like they should be the easiest that take the longest?
Yours looks great! Thanks for sharing the tutorial too! 🙂
I love this! I want to make one, I love making wreaths!
This is so fun! You did an awesome job!
This is too cute! I love how personalized it can be, based on which book you choose. I'll going to be on the lookout for a book to do this with!
<3 this idea! I grew up in a Baptist church so really loving the hymnal! I am not sure I could drink the vino and do this….I would be a hot singing mess before I could finish;)Awesome job…Will add so much charm to your dining room!
I am so impressed! Your wreath looks amazing and it looks fantastic on your gray wall. Thanks for sharing the tutorial!
Aw very cute! It turned out so nice!
I love it with hymnal pages! Looks great! *visiting from the link up 🙂
This turned out so well! I love the idea of using the hymnal; thanks for the great tutorial!