Thursday, January 21, 2010

as promised...

Paper Wreath Tutorial


Supplies:
twenty-five to thirty sheets of really great printed craft paper (I LOVE this line)
twenty-five to thirty sheets of solid color paper
an old book
buttons (thirty or so)
floral wire
glitter(oh my I do love glitter)
wire cutters
needle nose pliers
foam wreath form
glue
scissors

Using your craft paper and old book, cut out "X" shapes in various sizes with rounded edges. The largest should be around 6-8 inches and the smallest should be about 3 inches. Cut four each from the printed paper, solid paper and old book pages. Do not worry about uniformity. It looks better if each petal is unique. Also cut out circles for the flower centers. I use a 1 1/2 inch die cut.


Cut a length of floral wire (I like to use heavy gauge wire for more stability). Thread a button onto one end and using your needle nose pliers, curve the wire so the it goes back through the button.


Follow with a circle.


If you want to glitter your flower, use some glue to coat your paper and sprinkle and tap off excess. Start to crumple and shape your petals. I like to curl mine inward. Stack the petals one by one on the wire.


After you have stacked all twelve petals, use your needle nose pliers to make a curl with the wire in the back to hold the petals tight.


My wreaths are fairly large and require twenty-five to thirty flowers. Yes, it does take me forever.

But.

It lasts forever. The flowers never die.

And you can always make a small one if you don't think you can handle hours of crumpling paper.


Poke the wire from each flower into the foam wreath. It may take a little tweaking to get them arranged just right.

Be patient.

Enjoy!

Oh, and send me a pic of your finished wreath!

*****Okay I'm writing this very small because I don't want to come across as a intellectual property freak, but I would like to say that you are welcome to use this tutorial for personal use, but please ask before you publish it somewhere. After all, It's the polite thing to do.

21 comments:

Karen said...

Wow....WOW!! This is absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for sharing this idea... Gonna try it FOR SURE!

From the Kitchen said...

Thanks, April, for taking the time and effort to post this tutorial. I love the wreath and plan to make one as soon as I amass all the components.

Corinne said...

I LOVED this wreath the first time you posted it...I'm definitely going to give it a go, even if its the only crafty thing I ever do! Thanks for sharing.

cupcake studio said...

Remarkable! That wreath is so pretty!

Haley, Brad, and the gang said...

I am the new achievement day leader. I am going to try to suck some creativity from your blog. I am good at copying. How to come up with something cheap, worthwhile, and easy might be a challenge!

* said...

No kidding - this is uber gorgeous. {I'm sending the link to this post to my crafty friends.}

Pam @ Frippery said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!!

Serendipity said...

So, so pretty!

cbk said...

Beautiful wreath. Thanks for sharing the tutorial. I think this may be my weekend project as I most of the supplies to start in the house. Thanks again!

Amy said...

Love the wreath! I was sad I wasn't able to hang out with you babes at CHA. Keep in touch!

Amber said...

I randomly came across your blog while googling and this wreath is just darling!

Auntie Pita said...

Way Cool!

I'll be sending this to my adult dau, and it may become a tradition for us to do at Christmas time!

Stephanie said...

Hi! I found you on etsy, I am a fellow seller bellaregali.etsy.com Your work is so beautiful!!!
I am a follower now!
Stephanie
The-Still-Waters.blogspot.com

Jenn said...

I saw this wreath in Margie's booth and was instantly in love with it. Thank you for taking the time to do the tutorial for it! I have 3 cool dudes & then just had a little girl, so this would be a perfect addition to her room!
Have a fabulous day!

Mike and Jen said...

I love this! I keep a personal blog with things i want to remember and/or do. Do you mind if i copy your post there? With credits to you of course.http://www.filesandlists.blogspot.com/

{Bellamere Cottage} said...

Well, isn't that so darn cute! I'll be doing this.......well, one of these days.......when I have hours to play!

Warm blessings,
Spencer

Melinda said...

I saw this and LOVED it. So I made it and i love it even more! Thanks for posting!

Melissa said...

Well Done! I love this! I have to share it with my readers!

Hailey said...

well that was close. I posted a link to this + then saw the fine print at the end of your post. {so I took the post off} Would you mind if I posted this on my blog? I think it's so cute, creative + I love the idea!! I would just have the picture + a link going to this post. Let me know!
www.damonandhailey.wordpress.com

thanks!

Hailey said...

Well thank you!! I want to make one this weekend. Such a cute idea! Thanks for sharing + getting back to me so quickly!

emily sparks said...

wow! this is beautiful! i will definitely try it!