Upcycled Book Page Wreath

I found an old copy of the book "Miss Manners" for $3.00 at Half Price Book Store.  It is a huge book with over 1000 pages.  The pages are slightly yellowed, the typeset is tight and there are lots of illustrations.  When I came across this book, I knew that I could use the illustrations for cards and other crafts.  Before long I had the book at home, spread out on the dining room table, and the pages carefully ripped out.  The book and loose pages have been sitting there ever since.

While losing myself in Pinterest a few weeks ago, I saw a few projects using old book pages to make wreaths and flowers.  I found an excellent tutorial at the Fiskars site ( Book Page Wreath DIY at Fiskars ) outlining the basic directions. I did not use the border punches that they use in the DIY (too much work!)  Instead, I used a scalloped edge cutting blade.  While not as lacy as the Fiskars example, it is still very pretty. I decided to add some beautiful roses made from the same book pages for an elegant touch.  The flowers take patience and practice, but they are well worth the effort. I used ivory tulle and made a loop and lovely bow to hang it from.  The result is spectacular!

I brought the wreath to work to show one of my friends and before I could make it back to my office I had at least three co-workers asking if I could make one for them.  While this was an easy project, it was very time consuming. So, I'll have to think about that some...