Cats On The Homestead: Paper Wreath Craft

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Paper Wreath Craft

These super cute Christmas wreaths are also super simple to make. It took me less than 20 minutes to make each wreath. After making a couple I think I could cut down the time to about 10 minutes now that I know what I am doing.

You need a piece of construction paper or cardstock, scissors, a ruler, pen/pencil, and a stapler. The piece of construction paper above measures 12" x 18". In the first picture at this top of the post, the smaller darker green wreath was made from an 8.5" x 11" piece of cardstock. The cardstock actually works better because it is more ridged than the construction paper. But the construction paper works too and was easier to find in the larger size.

Fold the construction paper in half where the fold runs the long length of the paper. In the picture above the fold is along the 18" side (not the 12" side).

Mark along the open side one inch from the edge. This one inch strip is the NO CUT zone. You will be cutting through the folded side down to the line.

Start at one end of the line you drew and mark every 1/2". Then do the same thing along the fold.

Using the 1/2inch marks you just made, draw a line from the folded edge to the line running the long length of the paper. These will be your cut lines. You will be cutting from the folded edge to the line you marked 1 inch from the open edge, one cut every 1/2 inch.

The photo above shows all the marked cut lines, 1/2 inch apart, running from the folded edge to the line you made 1 inch from the open edges.

Next cut on your lines.

Once all the lines are cut, unfold the paper. You will be turning the paper into a tube lining up the uncut edges and stapling them in place. Roll the paper into a tube with the marked side on the inside. That way no one can see your cut lines (or my writing).

You may want to enlist the help of another set of hands for this step. I did manage it by myself and even took pictures (as you can see in the photo below the cat did try to help). Line up the uncut edges at one end of the paper and staple them together. Start at the edge and then staple further along the uncut edge every inch or so until the stapler cannot reach any more. (See the last paragraph of this post for additional hints I learned making a few more wreaths).

Then do the same stapling to the other end. In the middle you will need to work the stapler between the cut loops to staple the uncut edges together. I found that with the construction paper, the more staples the more stable the wreath (it made a better circle with more staples). With the cardstock, fewer staples were needed.

The last step is to take the two ends of the now rolled up and stapled tube and staple them together into a circle. You will need to arrange the wreath loops and unfold them a little. You can see in the picture above that the construction paper bulged in spots in the center. More staples in the center would have helped (again see the last paragraph below.. more staples and a little glue made a huge difference).

The wreath above is made from the 8.5"x 11" cardstock. The thicker paper held its shape better and made a better circle.

I found a clip art bow I liked, printed it out on red paper, cut it out and glued it to the wreaths. Other decorations can be added. I think the bow is just about the correct size for the smaller wreath but the bigger wreath needs a larger bow and some additional decorations. I will leave the decorating for my little one.

A day or so later after writing this post I made another wreath out of the construction paper. This time I used more staples and a little tacky glue when making the tube. This worked much better. you can see how the center has held its circle shape. This wreath in the picture above is hung with a strand of yarn without distorting its shape.

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