Holiday Papercafting - Christmas Wreath

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Recently I did a review of some new holiday crafting books from Leisure Arts
One of the books was called Holiday Papercrafting, and today I would like to share a project I created from that book



I have been a paper crafter for years, so this book was right up my alley.  It was filled with projects to inspire your holiday creativity.

I really liked the wreath on the front cover of the book, which was created by fan folding maps.  This would be fun to create using maps of places you have traveled to or that you have lived.

This would be a fun wreath to make for any season/theme, just by using different papers.  For a music lover, use sheet music.  I even thought about making a Disney inspired one using the maps from the parks at Walt Disney World.

To start off, I decided to paint the sides of the clothespins, so if the sides showed they blended in with the Christmas scrapbook paper I was using.  For smaller painting projects, instead of using a paint brush I sometimes use a cosmetic sponge.  These are a great craft room supply that you can pick up at your local dollar store

I laid all of the clothespins out on a paper bag and painted them

While these were drying, I cut strips of paper for the tops of the clothespins. I also cut the rectangles of Christmas scrapbook paper to fan fold.  

Because I wanted my fans to stay perfectly together, I put a little glue on the inside and then clipped them closed with some more clothespins, and allowed them to dry.

Before I glued anything down to the wreath base, I placed it on the base so I could space things out evenly.  The base is just a piece of foam core, and I wrapped some green fabric around it.  This way if any of the base shows through, it is green and blends in with the project.

The pattern called for a LOT more paper fans than I ended up using.  I am not sure if I cut my wreath base smaller or if my paper fans were just "fanning out" more than the one in the project photo.  After I had things all spaced out, this is how it looked.

Then I just glued things into place.  I did set a stack of cardstock on top of my wreath to help press everything down onto the base and I let it sit like that overnight so that the glue could dry.

Instead of adding the jingle bells like the project photo, I decided to add a big bow to the top of my wreath.  I have had this bow for almost a year . . . I made it at a Make and Take at the Bow Genius booth at CHA 2016.  I love the polka dot pattern, and I have been waiting for the perfect project to use this bow . . . and I think this wreath is it!

One thing I really like about this project is that the wreath is so light!  Since it is created from foam core, clothespins and paper it will be so easy to hang it up anywhere in my house.

Are you ready to get crafting?  Let's make this holiday season special with inspiration from books from Leisure Arts!