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Friday, October 7, 2011

How To: Halloween Wreath-Edgar Allen Poe inspired!

First, I need to make a confession. I didn’t start out making a Halloween wreath. Actually the wreath that I intended to make was a lovely vintage looking French Paper Wreath from Simple Joys Paperie.

This was my inspiration:

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And this is what I ended up with:

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       The Halloween- Edgar Allen Poe Wreath

 

What happened?

Well, once I got over my cringing guilt about using a book to make a wreath, I decided that at least I could use one that was no longer readable. I know. It’s rationalization at its best. But I had a book lying around that was perfect. It was an old paperback from a used book store that I’d brought home, only to find out that it had missing pages. That’s because the pages were so aged that they were literally falling away from the seam, but boy, I loved the patina and coloring of these pages.And I thought these would make a lovely, glittered Christmas wreath for my mantel.

The problem? The pages ended up crumbling too much, so  I decided to switch to my Edgar Allan Poe look. What do you think?

 

I basically followed the wonderful directions from Living with Lindsay. And I used the Autumnal Arrangement by Donna Reyne Jenkins for visual inspiration.

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Photo: Ruffled Romance Wreath, Living with Lindsay; Autumnal Arrangement, Reyne Jenkins.

Here’s what I did:

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1. Using a Styrofoam Wreath, I loosely rolled pages and hot glued them to wreath. This is the layer that forms the back of wreath.

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2. Cover the front in the same way.

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Can you see my problem with the pages? Time to change my vision… From vintage Christmas to creepy old Halloween.

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3. Roll individual pages and apply hot glue to edges. Tie bundles of rolled pages up with rustic string. Attach to layers already on wreath.

 

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4. Grab a stick. Hot glue on inside of wreath. Add crow with hot glue and wire. Add dried moss.

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Photo; Living with Lindsay

 5. attach ribbon to back with stick pins and hot glue to form a hook. (See Lindsay’s Pic?)

hang it in your haunted house and enjoy!

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now, click here my little dearies, for some Halloween invitation ideas

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 comments:

  1. I am absolutely in love. Holey moley what a stunning wreath! I'd love you to add this to my link party tomorrow night! Seriously it's gorgeous

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  2. I am so in love with this wreath!!! Your "oops" turned out to be an absolute WINNER! I've got to try it, and I agree, it's so hard to tear pages out of a book!!!

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  3. So going to make this! Pinning it too, thanks!

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  4. I can barely wait to get up from my desk and get out in my book hoarding area to start in on this wreath! Perfect for my Halloween party next week, and I am sharing it with the link on a post I am writing for my own blog. Thanks so much!

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  5. What size of foam wreath did you use?

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  6. OHHHHH!!! I'm in LOVE!!! I have a book that was written in German that I picked up at a used book store for crafting with...the pages are yellowed and thin, just what I was looking for and would make an awesome wreath! I already made a Edgar Allan Poe inspired banner using some of the pages...but your wreath...I died!!

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