Yesterday afternoon...

...I made a book wreath.

I've seen these all over and wanted to try one, so I found an old atlas at the thrift store and bought a wreath form at the dollar store and fired up the glue gun.  In the end, it cost about $5, and 2 hours to make.

There are a billion different ways to make these, but I used Emily's tutorial over at Jones Design Company. 

The first step was hardest for me.

Before you can start gluing your pages to the wreath form, you have to tear them out of the book.  Problem is, I love books.  Especially old books with that old book smell.  I love the yellowish hue of the paper that only can be achieved through age.  I knew that this step would be problematic for me, so I deliberatly chose a book where the information was outdated and tried to convince myself that really, I was doing a good thing by repurposing something that was headed to the landfill. 

I still almost cried {twice} while ripping the pages out.

You could use any kind of book.  It does work a little better if you choose a book with regular paper as opposed to a heavier cardstock-like paper.  Also, have A LOT of glue on hand.  I think I used around twenty glue {gun} sticks. 

I am happy with the way it turned out, though and I really like the maps mixed in.  I think the colors are fun.  I'm planning on hanging it on my big blank wall by the kitchen table.  For now.