Make a Paper Holly and Ivy Wreath

Today's craft for the 12 Day Craft-Along is the Holly and Ivy Paper Wreath. The first project in this series was the Autumn leaf wreath made with colored oak leaves. This is a similar project, but maybe a little bit easier because it is hot glued to a grapevine wreath.

To make the pattern, I traced holly and ivy leaves from my yard. I was kind of surprised how big the larger ivy leaves were compared to the holly leaves. So I actually scaled down the ivy leaves a bit.

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

You need the following supplies to make the Paper Holly and Ivy Wreath:

Grapevine wreath
Watercolor paper
Distress spray stains:
- Mowed Lawn
- Forest Moss
Polymer clay - Sculpey polymer clay
Hot glue
Glitter - Distress Clear Rock Candy Glitter
Way to cut out paper leaves - I used my Cricut Explore Air 2

Steps to Make the Paper Holly and Ivy Wreath:

Download the pattern for the Holly and Ivy leaves - Design No. 105
Cut out the Holly and Ivy leaves
Stain the paper leaves
Hot glue the leaves to the grapevine wreath
Make holly berries
Hot glue berries to the wreath
Glitter the berries, if desired

Below are more details on how to make the Holly and Ivy wreath.

First, download the pattern for the Holly and Ivy paper leaves

The pattern for the Holly and Ivy leaves is in my free Paper Glitter Glue library. Here's how you get the files. If you already have a password for the library, just go to the library and download the file. All the files in the library are in chronological order so you will find this file in the November 2020 section. The patterns are available as printable PDF files and SVG files for an automatic cutting machine like a Cricut.

If you don't have the password, just subscribe to the Paper Glitter Glue newsletter and you will get the password right away. I send out a newsletter about every 1-2 weeks with craft tips and information for projects on the blog.

Cut out the Holly and Ivy leaves

For the leaves, I like watercolor paper because it takes stain so well. I cut it out with my Cricut Explore Air 2 using a scoring tool for the veins on the leaves.

If you are using a Cricut to cut out the leaves, the score lines are already attached. Here is how they look in Cricut's Design Space.

But you can easily use white card stock or even colored card stock for cutting out the leaves.

Stain the paper leaves

I just love the spray stains because You can get so much dimension from the spray stains. I didn't have a large variety of green shades on hand, so I used a brownish green (Forest Moss Distress Spray Stain) and a pretty standard green (Mowed Lawn Distress Spray Stain) for the ivy. For the holly, I just used the Mowed Lawn Spray stain.

Here are the stained ivy leaves. Fold along the scored lines for to give more dimension.

And below are the stained holly leaves. Again fold along the score lines to make the leaves look more leaf-like.

Hot glue the leaves to the grapevine wreath

First, arrange the leaves in a way that appeals to you. I liked the larger ivy leaves on the bottom with the smaller ivy leaves on top. Mostly I used the smaller ivy leaves towards the top.

Make Holly berries

The holly berries are easy to make. Just take a tiny piece of polymer clay and roll into a ball about a centimeter in diameter (less than a ½ inch). I used the Sculpey brand clay and baked them at 275 degrees for 15 minutes.

Hot glue the berries to the wreath

Now figure out the placement of the berries and hot glue in place. Easy.

Glitter the berries, if desired

To make the berries a little more shiny, paint them with Mod Podge and sprinkle a little glue on top.

And that is how you make the Holiday Holly and Ivy wreath with paper leaves.

I hope you have fun with your creative endeavors. Take care.

Here are all the 12 Day Craft-Along Projects

Lucy

Just let me know if you have any questions - email me at [email protected]