The paper cone wreaths ended up being the perfect pops of color I needed for the Penguin Christmas Party, and bonus, the materials to make them were very inexpensive. They weren’t hard to make, either, they just required a little bit of time and patience to assemble. And these cone wreaths are originally someone else’s idea…in fact, Natalie at Southern Belle’s Charm made one out of tea-stained book pages for me for Halloween. I truly loved that wreath, and it kept coming up in my mind’s eye while I was designing this party.
I am giving instructions here for the large double rowed wreath, but you can follow the same method for a single layer wreath. The materials for this project are very (very) basic:
- Cardstock in two shades of green (6 to 7 sheets of each)
- 8 inch cardboard cake circle
- 4 inch paper circle with graphics
- 5 inch paper circle in complimentary color to 4 inch graphic
- Green crepe paper (I used a roll of streamers)
- Red buttons
- Ribbon for hanging (mine is 1.5 inch red satin)
- Glue gun
This is probably the most important tip when making this wreath: make sure you fold all your cones the same direction. Right over left or left over right–just be consistent!
I went with right over left. If you’re using a heavy card stock like I did here, you absolutely have to pre-fold them so you don’t end up with glue in unpleasant places.
Just a little hot glue on the inside of the top edge–
And we have cones. I used hot glue because the paper is pretty strong, and didn’t want to stay put with double sided tape or a glue stick.
Step 3: Arranging your cones.
It’s good to do a quick pre-flight to make sure you have enough cones to make your wreath shape. I needed a guide to show me that I had the cones all in a perfect circle, so i used my lens cap in the center. A bigger guide would have resulted in a bigger wreath!
Step 4: Gluing down.
Work two or three at a time to glue down all your perfectly placed cones. remember to step back every few and make sure everything is still lining up!
Step 5: Row two!
The top circle with the smaller cones is created the same way as the first circle. Only this time there is no guide and all the pointy ends touch. Glue them all down a few at a time with hot glue.
Step 6: Giving the center some bling.
My 4 inch circle in the center was made from the circles in the penguin party printables. I traced a bowl from the kitchen onto red card stock to make my 5 inch circle (nothing but the best in crafting tools here!)
Using the adhesive of your choice, layer the two circles together.
Step 7: Ruffles!
This only looks intimidating. It’s not. Real simple stitch there–just use your needle and thread to run a quick hem stitch along one of the edges of your crepe paper and pull the paper gently to gather it.
Keep ruffling until you have enough to go around the outside of your 5 inch circle. I forgot to measure this step for you–shame on me.
Turn over your layered circle and glue your ruffle around the edge.
Ta-dah! It’s ready to go in the center of your wreath! Just hot glue it down like everything else. Your option to add the buttons here.
Step 8: Hanging it up.
I glued a 1.5 inch red double faced satin to the back to hang my wreath with. Make sure you glue the ribbon down from the center to the edge, or else the wreath will fall forward when you hang it up. And that would just look silly.
And you’re ready to hang it up. I can’t wait to see all the creative variations of this out there–send them in and I’ll show them off!
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Marilee
Tuesday 14th of February 2012
This tutorial was very easy to follow - I love yours! I just made one for spring tonight :) Where can I send you a picture?
Carmen {Pom Flair}
Wednesday 14th of December 2011
so fun!!! I might just have to make a NYE rendition of this.
Sandra
Wednesday 14th of December 2011
I think I can summon up enough crafty-ness to pull this one off!
Dina - Deliciously Darling Events
Wednesday 14th of December 2011
YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! So awesome Paula! Love it. Can't wait to try it out! (PS - huge congrats on the HWTM feature of your beautiful penguin party) :)
Christine @ Pure Joy Events
Tuesday 13th of December 2011
Another great tutorial. Thanks for sharing, Paula.