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Steps written out by Crafting Step by Step from Sandy Risi's video (opens YouTube) (14:16). Published .
This one is mostly repetition, and that is why it works. You cut paper into strips, bend each strip into a loop, and pin the loop to a foam ring. Do that a couple of hundred times and you have a wreath. No glue on the base, no wiring, no floral tape.
Sandy Risi builds hers in about fourteen minutes of video. Expect an evening in real time, because the curling is the slow part and you will want to sit down for it.
A solid extruded foam wreath form, not the crumbly white kind that sheds beads everywhere. A 10-inch form takes roughly six 12x12 sheets. Go up to a 12 or 14-inch form and you are into a full pack of twelve.
The pins matter more than you would think. You want short flat-head pins, about three quarters of an inch, like sequin pins. Round-headed pins sit proud of the paper and catch the light, and you will see every one of them.
Mix patterns with plain. A pack of coordinated designer paper does the work for you, but any patterned scrapbook paper works as long as the colours sit together. Keep one or two solids in the mix so the eye has somewhere to rest. Double-sided paper is worth buying here, because the inside of every loop shows.
Tighter than you think. Gaps show as white foam and there is no fixing that later without pulling loops back out. Push each new loop up against its neighbour and alternate the direction they face so the surface stays uneven and full.
The centre embellishment in the video is a stamped oval on layered doilies, which reads as Valentine's. Swap it and the whole wreath changes season: a plain monogram, a sprig of greenery, a paper bow, or nothing at all. The curled base is neutral, so pick your paper colours for the season you want and leave the middle simple.
For the fabric-and-greenery version on a grapevine base, see how to make a wreath.
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Turn six sheets of patterned paper into a curled paper wreath. An easy project: about 1 hour 30 minutes. Materials cost about $15 to $30. You need 9 things, including 10-inch extruded foam wreath form, patterned 12x12 scrapbook paper and coordinating cardstock. The 9 steps start with gather the Form, Paper and Pins, trim the Sheets Into Strips, sort the Strips by Pattern, curl Each Strip Into a Loop and pin the First Loops to the Form.
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Start with a solid extruded foam wreath form. Squeeze it: if it crunches and sheds little white beads, it is the wrong kind and pins will not hold in it. A 10-inch form needs about six sheets of 12x12 paper. Set out short flat-head pins alongside it, around three quarters of an inch long.
Buy more pins than you think you need. A packed 10-inch wreath eats a couple of hundred of them.
Run each sheet through a paper trimmer into long even strips. Even is what matters here, not exact, because a strip that tapers will curl lopsided and stand out on the finished wreath. Keep the width consistent across all six sheets and cut them all before you start curling. Batching the cutting saves you swapping between tools two hundred times.
A guillotine trimmer beats scissors for this. Two hundred hand-cut strips is how a fun project turns into a chore.
Fan the cut strips out across your mat and group them by pattern. You are going to be grabbing these without looking for the next hour, so having the piles separated means you can alternate colours as you go instead of ending up with all the red in one quarter of the wreath.
Count your piles. If one pattern is running short you want to know now, not with a quarter of the form still bare.
Bring the two ends of a strip together to form a loop and pinch them between your fingers. Do not crease the fold at the top, because a sharp crease makes a flat teardrop instead of a round curl. If the paper is stiff, draw it over the edge of a bone folder first to soften it, the same way you would curl ribbon.
Curl a big batch before you pin any of them. Switching between curling and pinning constantly is what makes this feel endless.
Hold a loop against the foam with both ends together and push a pin straight through both ends into the form. One pin holds one loop. Press it all the way down so the flat head sits against the paper. Start anywhere on the ring and work in one direction so you always have a clean edge to butt the next loop against.
Angle the pin slightly into the form rather than straight down. It grips better and the head pulls the paper tight.
Keep going around the ring, pushing each loop against the one before it and varying the angle so they do not all lean the same way. Cover the inner and outer edges of the form too, not only the top, or the wreath will look flat on the wall.
Check for white gaps as you go by holding it up at arm's length. Foam showing through is the one mistake that is genuinely annoying to fix later.
Mix your patterns as you go rather than working through one pile at a time. Clumps of a single paper are obvious from across the room.
Cut an oval or a circle from coordinating cardstock for the middle of the wreath, then cut a slightly larger one in a second colour to sit behind it. Stamp or write on the top layer if you want a message. Keep it small: the curled paper is doing the work and a big centrepiece fights it.
A plain monogram or a sprig of greenery keeps the wreath usable year round. A holiday message locks it to a few weeks.
Stack the label onto a paper doily, then onto a larger die-cut shape, gluing between each layer. Offsetting the layers slightly rather than centring them makes the stack look deliberate. Let the glue set before you pick the whole thing up, because doilies tear if you lift them by an edge.
Add a couple of small paper flowers or buttons where the layers meet. It hides any glue that squeezed out.
Glue the finished embellishment onto the curled base, either across the middle or off to one side. Press and hold until it grabs. Give the whole wreath a last look from a few feet back for bare patches, push a few spare loops into any you find, and hang it from a ribbon looped through the back.
Paper fades in direct sun. Hang it on an interior door or a sheltered porch rather than a south-facing front door.
Keep going
How to Emboss Paper With Heat and Embossing Powder
More on this topic, picked for this paper wreath.
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How to Make a Paper Wreath
E6000
E6000 Craft Adhesive, Clear (3.7 oz)
The industrial-strength craft glue that bonds glass, wood, ceramic, metal, fabric, and concrete. The one adhesive most craft projects reach for.
OLFA
OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
The pro-standard cutting surface. Gridlines for square cuts, self-healing so blades never leave grooves, and big enough for paper, fabric, and leather.
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Question 1 of 5
Which foam wreath form will hold pins properly?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.Which foam wreath form will hold pins properly?
Answer: Solid extruded foam
Bead foam crumbles and the pins pull straight back out of it.
2.Why keep the cut paper strips an even width?
Answer: A tapered strip curls lopsided
An uneven strip stands out from its neighbours on the finished ring.
3.What holds one curled loop onto the form?
Answer: A single pin through both ends
One pin through both ends is all each loop needs.
4.Why avoid creasing the top of each loop?
Answer: A crease makes a flat teardrop
A soft fold keeps the loop round instead of pointed.
5.Besides the top, where else do loops need to go?
Answer: The inner and outer edges
Skip the edges and the bare form shows from the side.
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