Make This: DIY Paper Crown Garland Made from Recycled Book Pages

I mentioned the other day, that I recently made some decorations for my sister-in-law’s baby shower, and they were so fun to whip up, I thought I would share the tutorials. The first was this miniature flower arrangement, using vintage baby shoes as vases. And today is the second baby shower DIY: a paper crown garland, made with vintage book pages.

This would be a great project for a gender neutral shower, that’s not overly baby-ish, or a child’s birthday party, etc. As I mentioned, I used vintage book pages as my paper, which added to the charm and toned down the cutesy-ness. After last week’s DIY, I’m kind of on a recycling kick, huh?

The book I used had several missing pages before I picked it up from a book swap a while back, so I was happy to finally be able to reuse it in some way.

Here’s how to make your own…

Materials:

scrap paper or vintage book pages (from a damaged book that would otherwise not be readable) // glue stick // string // needle // scissors

How-To:

1. Start by creating a cardstock template that you can use for all the crowns. It’s really easily to do actually, you just draw and cut out a triangle that is the height that you want the crown to be. Then trace that triangle onto cardstock and then move the triangle over 1/4 to 3/4 of an inch to the right (so the bottom will overlap) and trace the triangle again. Do this again and again, until you have seven triangles across. Cut out and that is your crown template.

2. Then trace your template onto decorative paper or discarded book pages and cut out. Repeat this 5-10 times. Each one will create an individual crown.

3. Add glue to the very last triangle on one side of the cut out paper. Then attach it to the very first triangle on the opposite side, creating the crown shape. Repeat with all crowns.

4. Poke a needle and thread through the crown individually and knot each side once in place, before adding a second crown, and a third, etc. Hang and enjoy!

I used some of the leftover crowns I had for decorating the long string attached to giant 36″ round balloons. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it before the balloons deflated (I only brought one back home with me from the shower and when I woke up the next morning it was completely deflated, before I had a chance to take a photo).

But you could also use the extras as tiny, whimsical hair accessories. Especially if you were using it for a child’s birthday party, instead of a baby shower. Although, adults can look cute in tiny crowns too.

Photography by Sarah Eddy // Concept and styling by Brittni Mehlhoff

What else could you use these crowns for? I’m sure I’m forgetting something and I’d love to hear your ideas.