How to Make Paper Wreaths

Have no wreath yet for your dinner party room? No problem. With this easy, super-fast tutorial you will make yourself one or more paper wreaths in literally 1/2 a hour. Best of all, you won’t need anything you don’t have in the house already.

Materials

So, what do you need to make wreaths like this?

* Scissors

* Sticky tape

* Cereal box or old cart board box

* 10 sheet of copy paper, gift wrapping or other decorative paper. Use the thin stuff, not the heavy weight ones.

 

Step-by-Step Instructions on Make Paper Wreaths

1.  Take of the box of your cereal box and cut it into a flat piece of cardboard (or, cut the side of one of your empty boxes in the garage, if you want larger wreaths. The one I used here is of a small, thin Ikea box that ‘s a tat larger than a standard size cereal box.

2.  Place a plate onto the card board and draw a circle.  Within this circle, draw a smaller circle using a saucer. 

Use these circles as your guides to cut out a circle.   Adjust the inner and outer circle to get the exact size of wreath that you want.  Keep in mind that the leaves will go a bit inwards and a bit outwards, so that the base at the back should be a tat smaller. Allow for enough opening at the center.

3.  Now take your copy paper (or use the blank backs of scrap paper) and fold it in 6 equal parts.   First fold it in half, lengthwise, and then again in 3 equal parts.  Draw a simple leave shape, diagonally onto that square.

4. Cut out your first 6 leaves. Fold each leave in half and see if you like it. Adjust accordingly. Once you have a leave that you love, fold it flat again, and use that as a template for your remaining 9 pages.

5. Repeat step 3 and 4 for the remaining 9 pages of copy paper, using your favorite leave as a template.

6. Fold all leaves in half, and fold the bottom end of each leave.

7. Stick the leaves in a rather orderly fashion onto the base, 3 in a row: one in the direction of the wreath, one fanning outward, and one fanning inwards. Have a look at the wreath here to show what I mean.

8. In my wreath, one half of the wreath is very orderly, like the wreath at Sweet Paul,where the  other half is a tat more random, like the one of the Red Thread.  I wanted to show you the different effects here in one wreath.  When you make your wreath, choose 1 style for your whole wreath.  For best results, stand back from result early on, and assess where and how you need to make changes.

 

Required Time for this Wreath

Wreath-making is incredibly easy and fast, I made mine in less than 30 minutes. If you want to make this into a cozy Christmas craft, and serve tea and cookies half way, well, then, allow for an hour or so.

The craft is so easy, it can easily be done with kids. A 4 or 5-year old child can help you by handing you the leaves while you stick them on. A 6-year-old let them cut the pieces of sticky tape. A bit older kids can make the whole wreath on their own, perhaps with some supervision. as a Christmas gift for grandma.

Tip: I personally think the wreath looks far superior if you work in one direction.

 

Ribbons

Time for the final touches. Look at your wreath from a distance to see which way should be UP. Then, punch a hole at the base.

Ribbon it up! Cut off about 50-75 cm of interesting ribbons which complements the color & style of your wreath, or choose a gorgeous Christmas ribbon to finish it off.

 

 

Also see: 50+ Ways to Use Ribbons Creatively