What I Made Wednesday "Book Paper Wreaths and Shares on Display III}

"5th Graders Are...Well-Read!" Another month means another Shares on Display for my son's school! I loved this month's theme: Favorite Early-Childhood Book. There weren't many students who signed up for this one, so I invited the 5th grade teachers to share their picks. It worked out so great!

The best part about this month's display is the wreaths I created using ripped pages from an old paperback book (I didn't like the book anyway). They turned out so great, the librarian at the school asked if she could have them after this month to display all year long!

Here's some shots of the Shares on Display, Month 3. Click these links for Month 1 and Month 2. Keep reading to learn how to make your own book paper wreaths!

I wanted to convey a cozy, snowy-winter evening, cuddling up to some hot cocoa with only your teddy bear and a good book to keep you company. I made up this rhyme and printed for the display to help set the mood. It reads,

"Grab the cocoa,

Find a cozy nook.

Snuggle up with Teddy,

It's our favorite childhood book."

Corny, I know, but I never said I was a poet. I used an image of an open book for the name plates of each "sharer". I love the extra-mile the teachers took in displaying a small writing as to why their book pick is their favorite from childhood. Very nice touch!

Remember when big department stores used to give you free stuff for spending lots of money at their store? Well, that's where these hot chocolate mugs came from. I never used them for anything but this display. See, proof you shouldn't throw anything out! I took brown paper and crumpled it up inside the mug. Then, I took fuzzy, white pompoms and topped off the mug with them, representing marshamallows. The effect is surprisingly convincing!

I hate to see a bare "floor" in any display case so I took some more ripped book pages, ran them through the shredder, and crumpled them up to scatter across the "floor" of the case. This particular display case has gotten a lot of compliments. My favorite was overhearing someone say it was like something Anthropologie would do for a display. WOW! Now that's some praise!!!!!

Some great picks!

I would love to share how I made these easy and quick Book Paper Wreaths! I made 4 of them to spell out the word R-E-A-D.

What You'll Need
Old book you don't mind tearing pages from
Stapler and lots of staples
Decorative cupcake liners
Sharpie or Paint Marker

     

What You'll Do

Start ripping out your pages. Be sure there is text on both sides all the way down the page. I used 18 pages for each wreath.

When you start to roll the book page, begin at the lower right side and roll across up towards the upper left corner. It's easy to roll it into a straight tube if you are not careful. Be sure to keep it on the diagonal to where you end up with a cone shape. Play with it and you'll get the hang of it. Try to avoid rolling it where you have a big flap in the end. If this happens, though, just crease it back so it lays flat.

When rolling, try to keep the cone shape without a huge flap in the end.

 Staple the rolled cone closer to the bottom of the point, ensuring your staple holds the shape of the roll. After stapling all 18 book pages into cones, take 9 of them and fan them out into a half circle, stapling each point together as you go along. Do the same with the remaining 9 cones.

Then, take both half circles, 9 cones each, and bring them together at the center. Staple the center of each half to make a whole circle. This is very hard to do with a regular staple because it doesn't have a long reach, but it is possible. I am lucky enough to have an offset stapler that gives an arm reach up to 18 inches. I used it in the project to make it so much easier to staple. Make sure you staple the heck out of it, ensuring the two halves are securely whole.

What You'll Need to Know to Finish

You've got this awesome wreath of book pages with a very ugly middle, all mangled up in staples. You've got to cover this. Use your creativity. You can take another book page, accordian-fold it and then fold it in half and glue that to the middle. You can take a tiny book and hot glue it to the middle. For my purposes, I wanted to spell out the word R-E-A-D. I looked around in my kitchen and, low and behold, I opened a door revealing these decorative cupcake liners I bought eons ago. I took 4, reversed them and took a paint marker to write the letters R-E-A-D in each liner. I then taped them to the center of each wreath and, VOILA, done! So adorable, so cute, so easy!