Phone Book (or Newspaper) Wreath

When I saw this post by MormonMommyBlog, I figured I could knock it out in a couple hours and have a nice, eco-friendly, homemade recycled wreath. Let me tell you right now: get a friend, a child, a spouse, someone to help you or you will spend a ridiculous amount of time on it, which is something the original post doesn't tell you. So here's what you'll need:

1. A large piece of cardboard
2. Scissors
3. A marker/pen
4. A hot glue gun and 3-4 sticks of glue
5. A ruler
6. Something to trace your circles (I used a small bowl but you could use a coffee lid)
7. At least 1 phone book (I used 2)
8. A ribbon or something to hang the wreath


First, cut out the size of your wreath. Keep in mind, the bigger the square, the longer it'll take to cover! I tried to eyeball how big they made theirs so I could make mine the same and guessed it was about 14"x15".

Next, trace your circles onto the pages of your phone book. I started out using 8 pages but halfway through the project, I used 4 pages per circle and couldn't tell any difference in size. Batman wanted to help trace circles but he ended up playing in the leftover pages all over the floor instead.

Cut a spiral into the circle, roll it up tight, and slightly release to make rosettes. I recommend gluing the end of the spiral in.

Glue down your rosettes to the cardboard and note that they all don't have to look the same. In fact, if they're different sizes, the variation makes it look unique!

The tracing, cutting, rolling, and gluing takes the longest so if you have a second pair of hands, it would help! Also, your fingers will be covered in ink and hot glue by the time you're done.

Add a ribbon to hang and you're all done!

TOTAL COSTS: Free!
The cardboard was from IKEA packaging, the phone books we receive annually, and everything else was on hand.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About 8 hours
Just to cover the bottom, it took 2 hours, 48 minutes.

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
It wasn't so much difficult as it was time consuming. You have to be careful not to burn yourself with the hot glue but other than that, it's a piece 'o cake!


UPDATE: It has been a month and a half since I wrote this post and I wanted to post an update. Since having the wreath up, some of the spirals came undone. I live in LA so my door is prone to the occasional Santa Ana wind gust, but I wanted to give you fair warning the same thing might happen to yours!

Newspaper (or book) Nail Art

I'm not a big fan of painting my own nails, however I think I've had maybe 3 professional manicures in my life. When I saw this idea on Pinterest for newspaper art, I thought it was simple and easy enough for an amateur like me. I made a few mistakes here and there that I wouldn't want you to make, but for $2, this project is worth a try!

You'll need:

1. White nail polish 

2. Clear nail polish

3. Rubbing alcohol

4. Newspapers, phone book pages, etc. I don't recommend using book pages because I found the actual paper sticks to your nail instead of just the ink from the text (see below)

First, and this is optional and I didn't do it, put on a base layer of polish. If you want to skip this like I did, paint on your layer of white (mine was actually for french manicure tips, according to the bottle, but it worked perfectly). Wait for it to dry before applying another coat if needed.

Once it's dry, dip your finger into rubbing alcohol for 15-20 seconds.

 

Then immediately apply your newspaper/phone book pages/maps/whatever you want. I tried using old pages from a Harry Potter book that I had saved from my hollow book post. I waited for about 20 seconds before removing it.

As you can see, the book page didn't work so well...

So I tried again with pages from a phone book.

And voila! It worked!

Make sure to apply a clear top coat to all your nails so the ink doesn't come off.

And you're done! You could do crosswords, maps, receipts, whatever you like (so long as the paper isn't thick)! Be creative and enjoy this cheap and easy DIY!

TOTAL COSTS: About $2

$.99 for rubbing alcohol from Vons

$.99 for clear polish and white polish from Rite Aid (2 for 1)

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 hour

Keep in mind, I spent 20 minutes trying to make the book pages when I just should have given up!

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5

It's not hard, it just takes a couple of nails to get the process down pat.