DIY - Toilet Paper Roll Wreath

Yes, you read that right - a Christmas Wreath made of toilet paper rolls!  Isn't it pretty??  Those are wax paper flowers, ribbon, and ornaments, but I will get to that in a bit.  I found the most brilliant idea on Design*Sponge a few months ago for a wall art project using toilet paper rolls.  I thought it was so simple and beautiful so I began collecting all our used rolls and used paper towel rolls as well.  Well, I never got around to it and that's a good thing because the other day this idea struck me!  Here is the step by step method I used to create this lovely, simple wreath out of stuff you would normally throw away.

See the full how-to after the jump.  And if you like this project, I'm always posting more fun ideas so please Like my Facebook page and follow this blog to stay in touch!



Toilet Paper Roll Wreath:

Supplies:

1. As many toilet paper and paper towel rolls you can collect.

2. A ruler, preferably clear with easy guidelines

3. Scissors

4. Pencil

5. Glue Gun

6. Extremely cute audience as inspiration

7. A glass of wine (arguably the most important tool of all)

Instructions:

1. Flatten down each roll to prepare for cutting.  This will form a fold at both the top and bottom to create the leaf shape.

2. Using your ruler, mark cutting lines depending on what thickness you want the wreath to be.  I went for 1.5 inches, but you can go with whatever you think looks best.  Cut along these guidelines to create individual leaf shapes, as many as you can.  

You will end up with a massive pile of TP roll leaves:

3. Now start arranging the pieces into a wreath shape.  I used a salad plate as a template, which worked really well since it provided a solid edge to line the pieces up against.  I laid a single ring of pieces around it to form the base of the wreath.

4. Hot glue the pieces together to form a complete circle.  This will form the inner edge of the wreath.  Once this ring is complete, arrange the rest of the pieces around it in any fashion you like.  I kept to a regular pattern for symmetry and ease of gluing.  Arrange the pieces in one layer at a time, glue all the pieces in that layer, and then move on to the next.

There it is, a Toilet Paper Roll Wreath!  You could stop here, or paint it, add glitter, ribbon, the possibilities are endless.  You might end up with extra leaves, but don't let those go to waste!  You could use them to make a mini wreath too, or cut them into thinner widths to make gift wrapping adornments.  

I chose to decorate my wreath with Wax Paper Flowers, which I found on Nice Package, a lovely little blog with a deceivingly dirty name.  The concept is similar to the tissue paper flowers we all made as kids: stack several same-sized squares of wax paper, accordion fold the stack and tie in the middle, cut the ends to a point or scallop, and carefully pull up each layer individually to form the petals.  The entire how-to can be found at the link above and here.  

These lovely little flowers along with a couple tan gross grain ribbon bows and a few gold ornaments make for a simple, neutral, and very pretty wreath!  I tied everything on using a bit of yarn.  Given the nature of these materials, this will be an indoor wreath only so I'm going to use it in our Christmas stocking display.  I also found a great idea for a wreath made from old book pages the other day, also very simple and stunning!