DIY Summer Paper Wreath

I’m on a real paper crafting kick as of late. Working with paper is cheap and easy and there are so many beautiful things you can create. And between Google and Pinterest, I’m never short on inspiration. I bought this paper pad on clearance from Michaels for only $5 and knew right away that the colours and patterns would lend themselves very well to a cheerful wreath. I used this wreath as a jumping off point and came up with a pretty wreath that looks like it took a lot of effort but was really super easy to make.

Want to make your own? You’ll need:

• 6 sheets of double sided 12x12 scrapbook paper (you can use single sided but you’ll end up with 6 patterns instead of 12)
• 18 inch wreath form (mine was straw but foam would work just as well)
• Hot glue
• Straight pins
• Ribbon

Start by wrapping your wreath form with ribbon. You’ll only be covering the front of the wreath with paper and the ribbon will hide the sides of the wreath form. Leave yourself long enough tails that you can tie them into a bow for hanging once the wreath is finished. If you’re ok with your straw or foam showing you can skip this step or you could paint the wreath form.

Next cut your paper into strips that are 2 inches wide by 4 inches long. Each sheet should yield 18 strips so you’ll have a total of 108 strips. Take each strip and fold it in half (but don’t crease it) and secure the ends with hot glue. What you’re trying to create are flat-ish 2x2 paper loops like the ones below. If you’re using double sided paper make sure to fold half of each page in the opposite direction so all your patterns will show.

 

Once the glue is dry all you have to do is pin the loops to your covered wreath form with straight pins. You could use hot glue for this step but, if you’re like me, you’ll end up wanting to rearrange a bit as you go and you won’t have that option if you use glue. My basic pattern was to alternate rows of three and then two loops, fanning them out to cover the wreath form and to hide the pins. I didn’t have a pattern for using my papers, I just tried not to put the same ones too close together.

Once you’ve got all your loops in place just tie the tails of your ribbon into a bow and you’re done! Gluing and pinning all the paper loops takes a bit of patience but it’s pretty mindless work so you can get lots of thinking done ;) This wreath is definitely not weather proof so if your front door gets exposed to rain then you’ll have to hang this inside. Mine has actually found a home in our kitchen and it makes me smile every time I pass it!