my christmas vintage book wreath

So I finally got around to finishing my Christmas vintage book wreath... you know... the one I told you guys about a few weeks ago... remember? Well, after a couple of glasses of wine and a few hot glue gun burns, I finally finished it. I'm serious about those hot glue gun burns... crafting is a dangerous hobby.

First I gathered all my supplies... You will need a foam craft wreath (I initially thought I was going to create 3 of these bad boys... not so much. After my hot glue gun injuries, I was lucky to finish one.) You will want an old book. (I found the Charles Dickens 2-in-1 during this bookstore visit.) You will need a hot glue gun and plenty of extra glue sticks. (The culprit of my injury.) And you will want some craft paint.

It is also a good idea to have an assistant available.

Oh, and a glass of wine.

First I painted the pages of my book. I was using this tutorial over at Living with Lindsay, so I did exactly as she said... and painted the pages of my book... first with the brown craft paint, and then with the grey. However, if I was perfectly honest, I would tell you that I think this step could easily be skipped... but that's just me.

Then I began carefully rolling my book pages, one by one, and hot gluing them to my foam wreath. My placement of each rolled page was pretty carefully calculated, which I believe is just my OCD-craftyness kicking in. I realized that my pages were more rolled... whereas Lindsay's are more "just put on," which I think I like better... but too late now.

If I had to do this craft over again, I would do a few things a little differently... 1) I would use a smaller paperback novel... with the really flimsy pages. My book had really tall sturdy pages, which made them a little harder to maneuver. 2) I would have started with a larger frame for the base of my wreath. And 3) I would have skipped the whole page-painting portion. I don't really think you can tell, one way or the other.

But overall, I am very pleased with my finished product. It will definitely be up for the holidays at my house.

What about you? Have you been working on any Christmas crafts lately?