We are heading off on holidays very soon after Christmas day, so I don't want to pull the boxes out and spend hours decorating, well I really don't have the time to pack them all away get the house and garden ready drop the dogs off and pack, so this year I'm making Christmas decorations from what I have a round the house then I can put them in the recycle bin.
So , here is my DIY Recyclable Paper Christmas wreath which used items I already had in my home and I consider the cost to be zero!
What you'll need
A newspaper or magazine
Thin cardboard (at the width you want your wreath)- cereal box or an old card
Scissors
Stapler(and staples)
String or ribbon to hook the wreath
hole-punch
Instructions
Step one
Using a bowl or something round as a guide, draw a circle onto the cardboard and then another ring in the middle, then cut this ‘ring’ of cardboard out. My wreath was only about 20cm in diameter.
Either using a punch-hole or scissors, put two holes in the cardboard for your string.
Step Two
Now cut up your newspaper or magazine into squares. Ideally the squares should be at least 8cm x 8cm. I would recommend cutting only one page and figuring out how big the scrolls work out before cutting a pile of pages up!
Step Three
Now we need to create the scrolls. I found that folding a corner down and then rolling the paper created the easiest scroll to manage. You will want to create a ‘cone’ like effect (note the top end
Step Four
When it comes to making your second row, try to place the new row in the middle of the first rows gaps (to try and minimise the gaps). You’ll notice the new row of scrolls won’t sit flat – that’s a good thing!
Now comes the tricky part – you need to staple the scroll to the cardboard. Starting from the outer edge of the wreath, I recommend flattening the bottom end of the scroll first then getting the stapler in there.
Step Six
When it comes to the final row in the center of the ring, you will need to make different scrolls. Roll the paper square from corner to corner (so you’re still creating that nice ‘pointy’ end) and then fold in two – ideally folding it off centre so one scroll sits higher than the other scroll.
Step Seven
Now staple these folded scrolls into the center, aligning them neatly with the edge of the cardboard (ideally you don’t want any cardboard showing). You’ll also be ideally covering up all the other scroll ends so place each center scroll right next to each other so it completely covers all gaps.
Step Eight
Then you should finish with a beautiful wreath! It’s quite amazing how beautiful something so simple can look! Especially something made out of newspaper and cardboard! Oh and I added a bow from a scrap of material.
