Book Paper Wreath Tutorial

I was browsing through youtube and found this great video on how to make a paper wreath out of old book pages. I loved it and knew I had to make one. If you want to see the video just go to THIS link. It is a easy tutorial and she is funny too!

There are other paper wreaths out there I found too that I would like to try, but this was tops because I had the supplies already. LOL So heres what ya do....

Some items you need aren't in this picture. Sorry!

What you will need...

• Old Book (I found mine at a thrift store for $2)
• Square wooden or foam core board
• Scissors
• Tape
• Stapler
• Pencil
• Hot Glue Gun

.... How to make this ....

First, you want to start off my getting all your book pages ready by cutting (tearing them) out of you book. I said tearing because it is much quicker than cutting. Usually the paper is easy to get out.  Just cut back the book cover and pull the papers out. Some books are glued and in my case they were glued and tied with string. But still very easy to get out. Before I forget, since this wreath was intended for my daughters room, I used a kids craft book. I wanted bits of color to pop out. But if you are making this for your living room or any other place in the house, you can use a regular book. This wreath is larger also because the book was extra big. You can still use the same measurements with any book size. You will see what I mean about measurements below.

Once you have all the papers out of the book, its time to cut the glued edges off. I used scissors which took a little while. I couldn't find my paper cutter. Which would be much quicker. So I recommend that you use one. 

Now comes the rolling of the paper. LOL This takes time, but is so worth it when you see the final result. And by time, I don't mean a whole lot. It only took me about 40 min (including stopping to help 7 kids, it was a play day. LOL) If you have lil hands willing to help, be sure to enlist!

Take your paper and roll one corner towards the other side while curling under. It will look like the photo above. Fold the remaining paper over the top. Just keep rolling back to make a cone shape.

Once all the way rolled back you will want to take a small piece of tape to hold it into place. I used regular tape but you can just as easily use double sided tape if you wanted to hid the tape. I didn't worry about it. For one, I did not have the tape along with all the other supplies and I knew that I wouldn't see it once I put the wreath together. 

Once you have your cone taped, staple the bottom of each cone about 1 inch above the bottom. Again, you really don't have to be that accurate. Mine were definitely not all 1 inch. I had lil hands helping me. I would much rather have them help than be perfect. LOL They love crafting.

Keep making your cones until you have a huge pile. Sorry, I wasn't thinking of counting each one. But you will need quite a bit. I used half of the book pages from my book. 

In between all this cone making, my son grabbed us a snack. Sesame sticks. mmmm! He said, "Mom, these would make great snack holders!" So you know what we did. YEP! We used a couple to hold our snacks. LOL KIDS! They sure are smart lil stinkers. I thought this was cleaver and had to share because you never know when you might need something to hold a treat. If you don't have a bowl, grab a magazine or piece of paper and roll up into a cone for a snack holder. Just tape these. No need for staples. Then just throw in the recycling bin when done or reuse again and again.

It's time to make the wreath. YEAH! This part is fun!

Get out your square board or foam core (I had the board already) Trace an 8" circle, 4" circle inside the larger circle, then a dot in the center of the board. My circles are not perfect. They are just there to give you an idea of where to place your cones.

Then start by Hot Gluing a cone to the 12 o'clock, 1, 3 and 6 o'clock positions. This will be your starting point to follow your wreath shape. Make sure the open end of the cone is facing up before you glue it down.

Continue to add your cones to make a full circle. It's looking beautiful already. Don't you just love all the color popping out from the craft book pages.

Start your second layer the same as the first by starting at 12, 1, 3 and 6 o'clock. When you glue your second set down, make sure you go in between the first cones so you will end up covering the board. As you can see from the photo above, the cones do not have to be perfectly aligned. You will fill in areas as you go to cover all bad spots. See below... look how great this is looking with just two layers.

Again, for your final layer start with 12, 1, 3 and 6 o'clock. Then just keep glueing around until you have your desired look and covering up any parts of the board that may be showing. The picture below shows the finished third layer. Love it! So pretty.

On the video I watched, she used small ornament balls and buttons to fill her center. I wanted something different to complete this so I made my own paper flowers for the center.

Take one sheet of paper and cut in half. Fold the one half in half. Then cut strips down the whole side of the paper. Don't cut on the folded edge, you want this to stay in one piece. Once you have the whole piece cut, fold back the two paper in opposite directions making your petals. I just folded them quickly by using the edge of a table. Roll the bottom using the table and roll the tops back after that. The bottom row will now be out of your way. Pretty easy. I tried it one at a time and that was too time consuming.

Once all the papers are curled back, just roll your strip into a flower shape. Secure with tape. Shape into the flower shape that you like. You will want to make 8 of these for the center of your wreath.

Glue all 8 to the center of your wreath. Start by gluing 7 paper flowers into a circle, then add your final paper flower to the center to complete it. Shape the paper if you need to.

Glue on a wall hanging bracket and you are all done. Ready to hang and enjoy.

Here is our completed wreath. We love it! I already have people requesting them for their homes. Phew!

FYI.... My son helped me assemble this whole wreath. I added the glue and he did the rest. He did a great job, don't you think. I made all the cones of course. He thought that part was boring. LOL. But thought I would tell you because this can just as easily be a kids craft as well. 

Tips and Tricks... 

• To make this a smaller wreath, cut your book pages in half. Make two layers instead of three.
• Afraid to use a book ~ use a magazine or newspaper. Or just get an old book that had been worn out (papers missing or torn)
• Find some old music sheets that are unusable. That would make a beautiful wreath.
• Use wrapping paper or colored paper.
• Fill your center with buttons, rubber bands, hard candies, flowers.... Be creative
• Make themed wreaths for holidays or birthdays
• Add ribbons and flowers to embellish your wreath.
• These would make amazing gifts for anyone.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please share with me what you did with your wreath. I would love to share your photos in this post as well. Have fun making yours! We did!

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Peanut Butter Bird Wreath Recipe & Tutorial

This is a fun and quick project you can do with your kids this summer. The girls were playing with their Giant Dollhouse (LOL) so Cordell and I decided to make a 

"Bird Feeder with a lil Bath"

What we did was take the basic Peanut Butter Play Dough Recipe and added a few things to make this adorable Bird Feeder that will last for days.

Here is what you will need....

• 1 cup Peanut Butter
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 cup Karo Syrup
• 3 cups of Powdered Milk
• 1 loaf of bread (we used wheat, but it really doesn't matter
• 1 cup Birdseed

~ How to make this ~

First, mix together your peanut butter, powdered sugar and karo syrup. Mix until all the powdered sugar is gone.

Add in 3 cups powdered milk, mix well.

Remember to have your kids help you put things away as you use them. So there is less of a mess as you are working. 

Once everything is mixed together have your child shape the mixture into a wreath shape on a baking sheet. Make sure to spray your sheet with a non-stick spray first. While they do this set your oven to 450°

Next you want to grab some bird seed and start pressing onto your peanut butter mixture. Keep adding birdseed until you have most of it covered. 

Then place in the oven for 18-25 minutes. Depending on your oven.  Just keep checking until the outer edge is firm. Once done, let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Your finished bird wreath made this way is heavy so this is what you want to do. Take out and place on a rock, table or tree, add in a small bowl in the center of the wreath. Add water to make a little bird bath. The kids will have fun watching the birds play in the water. It's hot here, so we have to fill our water quite often.

There you have it. A simple fun activity you can do with the kids this summer.

I have another recipe for a birdseed wreath that I will share soon. This one you can hang in a tree.

Check out my son outside with his creation. Bad lighting, sorry. LOL

Have fun and as always, we'd love to see what you came up with. So please share.

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♥ Guest Blogger ♥

I found another great project to share with you all today! Susan from "Living with Punks" is here to share a very cool Pin Cushion Project. I know you are all going to want to make. I already stashed my can and am going to make mine tonight!

Hi,  I’m Susan from Living with Punks.  I am the wife of the hubmeister for 18 years now, and we have three wonderful punks, 7 yr. old twin boys and 2 yr. old lil’ sister.  On top of loving to sew, craft and bake, I run our family’s garage door company here in Clovis, California. So yeah, I keep busy.   

I have always had a love for creating and making things pretty. I can remember even as a little girl, thinking about home design and creating with whatever I could get my hands on.  I still have so many children’s books (I need to do a post about) that are about crafting and making.  I’m thankful my mom was aware of my desires, and encouraged them early on. 

After our daughter was born a few years ago, I started sewing again and now I can’t stop!!!  I love being able to look at something and think “I can make that” and then actually doing it… and it working!  Makes a person feel very accomplished!  Stop by my blog and check it out.  I have alot of ah-ha! sewing tutorials that are super simple and ALWAYS fun!! Toodle-loo...~Susan

~ Tin Can Pin Cushion ~

When I saw Fireflies & Jellybeans announced a crafting challenge a few weeks back, I decided I would try it...even though the challenge included recycled cans.  Unless you didn't notice, I like to sew  :)  But, I want to expand my crafting abilities and I thought it would be a great opportunity. 

I saved some 6oz. flavored almond cans (we've got lots :)), not knowing how I was going to use it....

Well, as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree (I know that is usually used for a mother/daughter reference, but you get the drift) because although my craft does not involve sewing, I can use it in the sewing room!

I started by cutting a piece of scrap fabric the circumference of the can, basically 11.5 x 2.5, and mod-podgedit to the side.  I stuffed the can with fiberfill and got another piece of fabric and stuffed it down as the pincushion top.  Make sure it's nice and puffy

I didn't want to just throw the plastic top away, so I cut it out in the shape of a funky flower

...and mod-podged some fabric to it.  I used a cute piece of felt for the flower center

And glued the funky flower to the pincushion

I love it and it looks soooo cute in my sewing room

~Susan

<center><a href="http://3punkmom.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="LivingwithPunks" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4675914951_a0c6cee16d_o.jpg"/></a></center>

Make sure you grab Susan's Button too!


Go Vote for SUSAN!
Susan just got the news too, that she is in the TOP 10 for Fireflies & Jellybeans "Iron Crafter" competition. So please go by and see and vote for your favorite. Which of course would be Susan's Pin Cushion. Show some support and Vote Right Now!

Thank you so much Susan for sharing this fun project with Trendy Treehouse! I look forward to making one of my own. I hope I can find some adorable fabric like yours!

If you loved this tutorial and SUSAN, please go by and tell her so HERE! She would love to hear from your. And if you really love her, Follow her! She has some pretty amazing tutorials. This was just one of them! I am going to try a few that she offers!

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Crayon Art ~ Teacher's Gifts

 Remember Jamie's Crayon Letter Shadowbox Tutorial? Wasn't it amazing? I think so! Well, it inspired me to try something new. I wanted the kids to be able to use the crayons but also leave a personal touch too since these were going to be for their teachers. 

This is what we came up with.

 I think they made the perfect Teacher Gifts this year!

Up Close So you can see the wonderful artwork and detail. LOL

The kids all wanted a different border. So be sure to look at the Border Design too!

This last one is the one they made for their Principal.

The kids last day is today! They are so excited to take them in. 

Hope you enjoyed our little project.

Check out where I am linking this fun project here!

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♥ Guest Blogger ♥

Sorry that I have missed a couple guest bloggers. End of the school year busies!!! LOL My kids have 3 days left, then it's "School's Out for Summer" Did you start singing the song? I did! 

Anyway, I have a wonderful "Guest Blogger" today! When I saw this project, I knew you all would love it and just had to get Patrice from Lemon Tree Creations over here to share it!

I'm Patrice from Lexington, Kentucky. I am a wife, mother, and teacher and love to spend my free time dreaming big dreams. It wasn't too long ago that my husband and I bought our first home. One of the best decisions we made back then was to only fill our home with meaningful things. Ever since then, I have spent every decorating bone in my body moving, crafting, building, painting and hanging happy things all over our tiny house. I recently started a cooperative crafting blog with some good friends, called Lemon Tree Creations. I'm fairly new to the blogging community, but have been an artist my whole life. I am constantly being inspired by everything I see in the world around me, and have recently embraced the fact that inspiration can be found in even the most surprising of places. 


Book Art

I am a major fan of the book page crafts. I have several versions of "book page wreaths" that you can find hanging throughout my house. However, working with all of these pages from books got me thinking, "what about the book covers?" I quickly started to realize my book covers were laying useless, and I could just not let this be!

So, here was my solution to that problem...

(Now before you cringe, I also have a solution for all of you book lovers out there. Trust me, my husband wouldn't just let me murder good literature for the sake of artwork. We simply reattached the book jackets to the classics, sans hardcover, and they are still very much readable! Mostly only the dictionaries and thesauruses will be used for other crafts later.)

Here is how I did it. I started with about 20 books, most of which were judged by their cover, so that they would look good in my dining room and/ or living room. (Though I did choose about 4 favorite titles to throw in the mix to make it a little more meaningful for our family.) I then simply removed the covers with scissors as seen below.

I used an $8 piece of birch wood from Lowes as the base. I chose this wood because it was light weight and would be easier to hang.

I did NOT glue anything down yet. I went down the side and around the perimeter to make certain their were no edges or gaps of the wood being seen.

When the entire perimeter was complete, I still did NOT glue anything down, but then made a second and third layer to give the piece more visual interest. I was happy at this point that I had not begun gluing, because I had to rework the layout SEVERAL times to make it look the way I wanted it too. I was after an appearance of the books coming out towards you at the center, so the thickness of the hardcover, mixed with its texture had to be played around with a bit.

Once I came up with something that worked, I began gluing down each cover, starting the corner and working my way around the perimeter again in the original pattern I had followed.

To hang it, I simply used picture brackets I also got from Lowes for about $2. I just measured three inches in from the top corners and screwed them in. Then I connected a thin gauge wire between the two brackets.

It only took about 2 hours from start to finish (minus finding the perfect place to hang it!), and cost less than $30.00 for all of the materials. In the end, I was pleased with how it turned out. As soon as I hung it on the wall (without waiting for Matt to help measure it out...oops...) I was pleasantly surprised to see how the piece seemed to bow at in the middle just like I had hoped. It looks great on the wall. After moving from its original place in the living room to the dining room, I have no intentions of taking it down any time soon!

I have been struggling with what to call it. I guess it would be reclaimed art of some kind. I have found myself in the past few days trying to tell people about it and saying, "well, its, uh book sculpture for the, uh, wall?" Makes no sense to me either, don't worry. So if you come up with something better, comment and let me know!

~ Patrice

Thank you Patrice and Lemon Tree Creations for sharing this fun project with us. I was so excited to see this because I am a big fan of books and reading, so this will be a great project for me! I can't wait to make one. And since I am addicted to buying craft books, I think I may make one with a craft look for my work room. YEAH!

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