How To: Make a Holiday Wreath from Vintage Books

Blog reader Mary-Ellen Kelly (she of last week's snowflakes-and-pinecones window hanging) was kind enough to share another super-simple holiday craft project with us:

You’ll need:
• Wire hanger
• Old book pages in various sizes
• Stapler
• Hole punch
• Ribbon

Instructions:
• Unwind the handle of the wire hanger so that you have an opening, but be sure to leave the top of the hanger in a hook shape. Carefully bend the body of the hanger into a circle, rounding out the corners as best as possible.

• Tear 50 or 60 pages (total) from a variety of books; pages of slightly different shapes and sizes work best.

• Roll a single page in half from top to bottom (not left to right).

• Staple the edges together where the top and bottom of the page meet.

• Punch a hole through the center of the rolled-and-stapled page. Tip: Once you get going on the pages, try hole-punching purposefully left or right of center to slightly vary the pages’ position on the wreath.

• Thread the open end of the wire hanger through the hole you've punched in one of the rolled book pages. Repeat with a second rolled page.

• Secure the two pages by stapling them together. (Staple from the underside of the top page so the staple doesn't show.)

• Repeat until the wire circle is full.

• Bring the first page and last page together at the top of the circle with your last staple. Make sure that the hanger hook is hidden behind the rolled book pages.

• Re-twist the open end of the hanger around the base of the hook to close your circle.

* Hang the wreath on a small nail or tack. If you wish, you can mount a decorative ribbon above the wreath so it appears to be suspended from that.

Finis!

Thank you so much for sharing this fun project, Mary-Ellen!

(Readers: If you have a simple DIY project to share, send me photos and instructions and I'll be happy to feature it here.)