Hymn Book Wreath: Tribute to John Newton

John Newton first presented the words to Amazing Grace at this church, wouldn't you like to visit this beautiful place? This image inspired me to use this as the centerpiece of my wreath, but how could I get both the sheet music and the picture to fit in the wreath?
After some brainstorming, I have created a way to showcase the church and the music in the center of my Hymn Book Wreath.  When the wreath is complete and I get my Corel Photo program to cooperate, I will show you the finished piece and more information from my research. All photo credits were links from google images and research from biographies of John Newton. Scroll down below these and I have shown you how I made my wreath.

Onley Hymns contains John Newtons writings from his sermons and notes, including the original amazing grace which was intended as a New Year's Eve sermon to his congregation.

Amazing Grace written here at his home

Another view of the church in Onley, Buckinghamshire in  England
There is a movie  about the story of John Newton, which many have seen.  I just watched this again to refresh my memory.  I have not been compensated to share the following information. I happened to find this website with church resources and valuable information.  Here is the link: http://www.worldchangersresources.com/shoppe.html 

 I am so excited to present this project.  I have been looking for something to go on the Armoire in the living room to lighten it up a bit . I had found a tutorial using a book for paper rosettes and it looked interesting and I stumbled upon a tutorial of how to make a book page rosette wreath. One of  my favorite inspirations came from a link to this blog called Under the Table and Dreaming, by Stephanie Lynn http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/11/diy-faux-curled-rosewood-wreath-made.html . She has a great tutorial and a neat blog of useful ideas. 
I didn't have the time, but would love to make the rosettes one day with an old book. I saw a picture of a plainly rolled book wreath and decided to look through some of  my old books and ran across an old Broadman Hymnal.  I thought I would make this idea more of my own and simply use the sheet music and roll the pages at an angle to make a pointy petal look. 
 While tearing out the pages, I found myself trying to hum the melody and trying to remember the words.  I was so encouraged while looking through all of these precious hymns and was reminded of my grandmother. 'Nana', we called her, was such a prayer warrior and this reminded me of so many great memories of her faith and my childhood home church.  What a great way to honor this memory by displaying all the songs.  Here is my tutorial:

 Items Needed: wreath form ( I used a broken pool noodle), an old book or hymn book, duct tape, hot glue gun & a wooden skewer

1. Take your noodle and trim it to size, glue the ends together and secure with duct tape.  If you want, you could spray paint the noodle or cover with your choice of base covering.

2. Rip out all your pages, you're going to need a lot for a full wreath. I used most of the Broadman hymnal.
 For this look, I rolled the pages into a cone shape, tucking in the short end and allowing the title of the song to be on the outside.

3.   I then proceeded to fold up the end of my cone shape page and used the skewer to hold it into place.

You'll want to keep a straight line all around the wreath, adding them as close as you can.

5.Continue until you've completed a row around the ring.  Now add another row on top of the first.Keep adding your layers until you get to the inside of your wreath. Here you'll need to make them shorter so they'll lay more uniform. 
 Now you can layer the back side using the same method. You will want those layers to be a little longer and may need to fold them the opposite way to lay correctly.  This will get a little tricky, so be sure to use your skewer or craft stick to prevent burns with the hot glue.

My wreath was already antiqued and old, but if you want to add an old look with a bit of shine, you can use some acrylic antique gold paint and a small brush. Just paint the tips and edges of your pages and voila!

Here is my finalized plan: To spray a clear sealer all over to preserve the pages and  To hang this beauty with a greenish wide ribbon and insert the Amazing Grace/Church image in the center. Hope you'll check back to see the finished project.