Seeing as we’re in Ottawa and not St. John’s for the majority of the holiday season, the Pie and I rarely trouble ourselves to decorate Elizabeth for Christmas. But this little thing was so easy, and so quick, and the days here in St. John’s have been so very gray, I needed a little festivity … but I was too lazy to do anything too complicated.
So I have here some rolls of wrapping paper that I picked up from IKEA about seven years ago, and which I rarely use (seeing as I still have a chunk left). The nice thing is that the wrapping paper, since it came on a roll, has a natural curve to it that I used to my advantage. I also have a large paper plate with an extremely ugly design on it. I don’t even know how I came to own these things, but I was cleaning out a cupboard and there they were … You will also need a pair of decent scissors and some tape. Any kind, really, as you won’t see it. A ribbon is optimal but also optional.
First, we need to make a wreath form out of the paper plate. If you want something bigger (or less ugly), you can make your own ring out of cardboard or whatever is handy. With the paper plate all I had to do was cut out the middle section.
Then I cut about a 5″ wide strip from the roll of wrapping paper. I folded it in half lengthwise, so it was then about 2.5″ thick, and then folded it across itself widthwise a couple times, until I had a small rectangle about 2.5″ x 5″. Or whatever works for you. This just makes it easier to cut a bunch of leaves at once. This is where having a nice sharp, strong pair of scissors comes in handy.
Then I cut a leaf shape out of the rectangle, leaving the bottom a little flattened (for optimal tape-age), and ended up with a handful of little leaves. I did this twice for each colour of wrapping paper I used, so six times in total. I have no idea how many leaves it was, but it was exactly enough for the size of my project, which was pretty convenient — almost like I had a plan.
Then I started taping them onto the plate, putting a wee bit of tape at the flattened end of the leaf, and making them kind of flow around the circle. Don’t worry about making them arrow straight, and try to pick up different colours at random.
When you put on the next haphazard row, it overlaps the first and hides the tape (this is called imbrication – like the layering of scales or roofing shingles).
Imbrication … (I learned the word today so it’s rather convenient that I have this project for you)
When you come full circle (and I don’t mean that metaphorically this time), just fold up the leaves already there and tuck the new ones into the space to fill the gap.
So that’s the whole thing.
I had a scrap of blanket binding leftover from the baby blanket I made for the Incredibly Little Hulk way back when, so I tied that on as ribbon.
Then I added another ribbon to hang it on my door.
This took me half an hour, from start to finish. Change the colours of the paper leaves and I’m sure you could apply this wreath to any season (black and orange for Hallowe’en, purple and green for spring …). Easy peasy, blamo kablam, it’s done!
Reblogged this on OX KNIT and commented:
I love this idea.
LikeLike
I’m going to have to try this! It seems really simple, but the final product is awesome!
LikeLike
I was surprised at how quickly I finished it!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on stephshockblogs and commented:
I have been feeling crafty lately and need some inspiration! When I came across this blog and saw the title of this post I knew it was exactly what I needed! Adding Festivity, the Lazy Way: Paper Wreath. Now this is something even I could handle!! It’s such a cute idea and thought I would share. I always have extra wrapping paper left over and never do anything with it…Until now! I have been trying to find neat ideas for left over wrapping paper, so if you have any to share please let me know!! Hope you like this post and try it out yourself!!
LikeLike
I’m super impressed by the quality of your projects as well as the creativity put into each one. Great blog! I’ll be following along 🙂
LikeLike
What a great and affordable project! I cant wait to try it!
LikeLike