Easy Ribbon and Paper Wreath

Are you a wreath person?  I never was but then I made this pretty heart one for Valentine's Day and now I'm thinking I need a new wreath for each season.  Maybe wreaths are addictive?  But I'm a little weird about my wreaths I don't hang them on the outside of my front door....if I did I'd never see them because we always use the garage to go in and out of the house.  So I hang them on the inside.  So I can admire my handy-work.  This also works out nicely since my door is 10 ft tall and it just looks kind of plain when it is naked.   I think I'm going to do a monogram letter of some sort for the outside.  So my neighbors can enjoy that handy-work. ;)

I got the idea for this wreath from Landee See, Landee Do.  Me and this Landee have something in common even if she doesn't know it (or me) because I love to see things and then do them.  This is why I love Pinterest!  Lots of inspirations, a few tutorials, and here I am making things I'd never have thought up myself.  

Brilliant.

This wreath is super simple.  It is only my second wreath so simple is good.  Easy is also good.  Landee said it took her 20 minutes to finish.  It took me 30 but I'm just a newbie...so yeah, it's easy! Nothing better than a project you can whip up during nap time. I also love that you can customize this to fit any decor or season simply by changing ribbon colors and paper patterns.  I did this wreath for summer but I could have easily done this for fall or winter or whatever.  Endless options.  

Here is what you need:

Ribbon

scrapbook paper

glue or tape or something else sticky

round foam wreath form  (mine measures 14 inches from top to bottom)

some way to hang it.... I really like this over-the-door wreath hook I bought for $3 at the craft store.

Wrap your ribbon around the wreath form, barely overlapping until the entire thing is covered.  Secure with glue. This is now the back.

Make your paper flowers next out of various colors/patterned scrapbook paper.  My three flowers are 4", 5" and 6". (Landee also has a tutorial for these, click here.  She does hers a bit differently but "the more you know" and all that.)

The formula she gives for paper sizes is length equals 1.5 times the width.  So...

4 inch = 4" x 6" paper

5 inch = 5" x 7.5" paper

6 inch = 6" x 9" paper

and so forth....

I used 2 pieces of paper for my flowers, here is how.

Fold each piece of paper like an accordion, widthwise.

 

Cut rounded edges or straight diagonals (or don't cut them) to vary the look of the flowers.

 Fold each piece in half and secure with glue to make a half fan, then glue both "half-fan" pieces together.

Glue a small square of paper to the back of each flower to make a base and then glue the flowers onto the front of the wreath form.

Here's a close up of the flowers on the wreath.  The middle has rounded edges and the other have straight diagonal cuts.  I also cut a little scrap of paper to look kind of like a leaf and glued that on as well.

Ta Da!  Done.  So easy.  And cute, huh?  :)

Scrapbook Paper Flowers

There are a lot of walls in this house of mine and many of them could use some decorating.  But "wall art" is expensive, you know?  So I have been searching out ideas to DIY some art to fill up some of those empty spaces. Of course, it needs to be easy too because though I would love to call myself artistic....sadly I am not. I know I won't be painting a masterpiece anytime soon, but I have found a few great ideas floating around the internets (ahem, Pinterest).

I found this great idea for wall art created from scrapbook paper and a paper punch a while back over at The Idea Room.  This isn't the first brilliant (and simple) idea I've gleaned from that blog either.  I was also inspired to create a heart shaped wreath from this tutorial back in February.  It really is a great blog.  Go check it out for detailed instructions on either project!

Scrapbook Paper Flower Wall Art, inspired by The Idea Room
Materials needed:
scrapbook paper
1 sheet card stock to fit frame
decorative paper punch of your choice
tape runner
glue dots (a glue gun would work too, I'd imagine)
picture frame

I used a flower shaped paper punch and four different patterns of paper to create a collage of 3D flowers to be hung in a frame with the glass removed.

To begin I adhered the cardstock I choose for the background to the cardboard insert that came with the picture frame using the tape runner.  Then I punched out a few flowers and arranged them to get a feel for the spacing I wanted.  Once I'd decided on that, I used a ruler to create a grid with little pencil marks showing where each flower would go.

Next I counted my marks and punched out a bunch of flowers.  I bent the petals of each upward so they would stick out from the page a bit. Once that was done I simply used the glue dots to stick them right on!  This was my first time using glue dots and I loved them.  You just touch whatever you want to glue down to a dot and the dot peals away, neat!

Once my flowers were all in place I put the piece into the frame (having already removed the glass) and hung it right up on the wall!  The whole thing took me less than an hour. 

It is hard for me to get a great picture, I'm not a very good photographer either...but I really think it looks pretty hanging between two previously owned floral canvases in a guest room.

Lots of wall space to still be conquered, stay tuned!  And on't forget you can follow my blog on Facebook too, just "like" me at the top of this page. :)