DIY Book Wreath

I love books, probably a little too much, but I have to admit to tearing one up from time to time to make a good wreath.

I know…the horror! They’re going to be endangered species before we know it so I probably shouldn’t, but in my defense I try to only use damaged copies that were probably going to be trashed by someone else anyway. And to repay my debt to society I always make sure to buy a new book after I’ve made a wreath…clearly a selfless act that I get no reward from whatsoever.

If you’ve seen one of these wreaths you know what a great statement piece they can be in your home.  A good wreath gives the perfect touch of texture to any room and a book wreath is a neutral option that will work all year long.  If you look online you’ll see they cost anywhere from $25 to $100 for purchase, but you can easily make one at home for as low as five bucks if you follow my simple instructions.  Happy wreath making!

Materials

• Extruded Foam Floral Wreath (I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby for $4.99)
• Book Pages (Amount depends on the size of your foam wreath)
• Hot Glue Gun & Sticks
• Marker or Make Up Tube with Flat End

Process

1. Fire up that glue gun and prepare to make your first ring on the front of the wreath facing you.
2. Wrap a single page around your marker and scrunch it up as much as you like.  If you like a cleaner look, that’s fine, just make sure you’ve wrapped the page around the tube as tightly as possible.

Wrapping the pages around the tube will give them their uniform shape, but most important, it protects your fingers from the hot glue.

3. Dab some hot glue on the end of the page-wrapped tube and press onto your wreath for about 10 seconds.

4. Continue this process until you’ve made a complete ring on the front of the wreath.

Space the pages as close as possible

Completed First Ring

5. Start a new ring inside your first ring using the same method.  On every book wreath I’ve made (no matter the size of the foam wreath) I’ve glued a total of 4 rings: the first ring on the front of the wreath,an inner ring, and two outer rings.

6. After you’ve finished the smaller, inner ring continue the same method on the two outer rings until you have a total of four rings of glued pages.  If you see any glaring bald spots you can carefully fan out individual pages to fill in the gaps.

7.  And, there you have it! Book mutilation in the name of home decor…but it’s so pretty, right??

Currently, I have two book wreaths in my home and I love them both.  I also pray for my book-destroying soul every time I look at them.

Living Room Book Wreath

Library Book Wreath

Final Tips

• Use a vintage book if you like, but make sure you test one page before ripping out the entire book.  The first book I ever used was very old (and very torn up) so the pages were actually too weak to wrap around the tube.  They started crumbling and cracking all over the place.
• Don’t use pages that have illustrations or bold title pages. They will distract from the uniformity of your wreath and make it look spotty.
• Make sure you like the color of your pages (face and edges).  I tend to choose books with white pages instead of yellow, aged ones and my last wreath was made with pages edged in gold which was a nice surprise.  It does a great job of reflecting light and adding a little extra twinkle.