He who lends a book is an idiot. He who returns the book is more of an idiot. ~Arabic Proverb

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So what are you if you make a wreath out of a book? My guess is an even bigger idiot. BUT- I'm an idiot with a sweet handmade wreath. I found this project on another blog through Pinterest, naturally. I absolutely loved the unique look of this wreath, and the fact that it is made from a book's pages. Reading is one of my favorite things to do, but I don't always get around to it.

Anyhoo- I used my copy of Mark Twain's "Recollections of Joan of Arc" which he considered to be his best work. He spent 12 years of research (some actually in France) and 2 years writing. He respected her real-life virtues as those he included in his own fictional characters.

The original project I found just used a bargain romance novel or something, but I don't like the idea of using materials like this that have no history or larger meaning. Now every time I look at this wreath I'll be reminded of someone in history that gave her life for something bigger than herself, and for God, against absolutely all the odds. I like to have little reminders of things like that for when I get all wrapped up in my own stupid shiz. ;) Here we go, very simple!

wreath, book, paint (paint edges of all pages & dry, nothin fancy)

you can fold the pages any which way you like, whatever you think looks good. i did something between a tri and quarter-fold

i lined the bottom (back) of the wreath first. when you are hot-gluing these, you need to glue the edges of the pages together, then glue the paper to the wreath.

the next layer gets folded, but the key is to not actually crease it!! i window-ed them between the bottom layer. for these folded ones, you do not need to glue the paper edges together, they will just stay because of the fold, it's science.

2nd row done!

for the 3rd row i went right to the top of the wreath, back to the straight pages, no folds.

this is 3 rows

this is 3 rows

did a row on the inside (glued all the way at the back of the inside ring)

this is where i started "filling in" wherever i thought it needed more paper...between rows, between pages, looking from the side, from the top, etc. when filling in, you can kind of glue willy-nilly and just stick them between the pages, they'll stick to the other papers!

done!

hung it above the bed because A: i've had nothing up there forever B: it's simple and elegant C: ryan says it won't kill us if there's an earthquake

it looks small up there in this picture, but it doesn't seem that way in real life. i actually am very happy with the placement, especially since i had no idea where this was going when i made it lol

hung with a simple ribbon hot glued to the back, by the way. apologies for the fuzziness of this image.

the drama i see comes from all the shadows the pages create, i just couldn't be happier with it!

Materials: Foam wreath (mine is 12" diameter), book (I used all 329 pages), hot glue (have a bag of extra glue sticks on hand), brown or grey paint & paintbrush