Before I became obsessed with fabric, my first love was scrapbook paper. I loved making holiday scrapbook pages especially, so I have stacks and stacks of winter and fall paper in my craft room. Even though I haven’t scrapbooked in quite some time, I still catch myself eyeballing the paper at the craft stores!
At my last job, the unit secretary was a scrapbooker too. She always had lovely homemade paper items in the office. She once displayed a paper wreath on the door of the commander’s office. I fell in love when I saw it! She gave me these easy to follow directions. If you, too, love scrapbook paper you will love making this wreath! It’s an easy and affordable craft that you can make for every holiday.
You will need:
– A stack of coordinating 12×12” scrapbook paper (at least 7 pieces, for variety)
– Cutting mat, Shape Cut ruler, and rotary cutter – OR – 12” paper trimmer
– School glue
– Hot glue gun and glue sticks
– Foam wreath (size is up to you but I used a 12″ one)
– Wonder Clips or paper clips
– Embellishment of choice
Chose your weapon to cut the paper. I used my Shape Cut and rotary cutter to cut several pieces at a time. This method is much quicker than using a paper trimmer, but either will work. Cut the paper into 1×6” pieces. I made my first cut at 6″, then turned the ruler 90 degrees to cut 1″ strips.
My son wanted to be my helper. He put a dab of glue on the end of each piece of paper so that the wrong sides were glued together. (We initially created loops with the paper, but that method didn’t work out as well)
Use some paper clips or Wonder clips to hold the ends together while they dry.
Once the glue has dried, grab a piece and hot glue it to the foam wreath. Repeat this process in a circular pattern approximately 947 times to fill the wreath completely 🙂 Trust me, this will take a while. Turn on your favorite music while you work to make the time pass quickly.
After I finished with the paper, I embellished the wreath with some Halloween signage I found at Joanns. I think it was originally a cake topper. I just cut the metal posts off and used metal wire through the holes to attach it to my wreath.
All your work will be worth it when the product is finished. In the end you will get a custom made wreath for a fraction of the cost of a ready-made wreath. It will not be water resistant, so do not use the wreath on your front door unless your entry way is covered.
See, being a paper hoarder has paid off. Isn’t this spook-tacular?! (Couldn’t help the pun. I knew Mom would enjoy it!)
What a neat idea! We do not do Halloween but I could do the same thing for Christmas! I have tons of scrapbook paper so this is going to be a must make for me.
I’m glad you like it! I immediately wanted to make a Christmas one after the Halloween one. For under $10, you can easily make one for every holiday. It would be fun to try with the rectangle wreath forms also.