Thursday, 15 December 2016

Driving Round In Circles


     Ever wondered what to do with that old road atlas? This year it's being put to use on my front door. I'm not a fan of SatNav, I prefer a good old fashioned map, so when I bought a new road atlas for my car I wondered what I could do with the old one, as an avid crafter I hate to throw anything away.
      I removed each page and trimmed the rough edge, then cut each page into three strips vertically. Using a bamboo skewer I rolled each strip into a straw, I made lots of straws!
     Starting with four straws I followed a great You Tube video and began to plait around a strong card tube from a roll of food bags, I found the aerosol can (as used in the video) a bit too big. If you need to take a break then just pin the straws in place with a clothes peg, that way you don't loose your place or unravel.
     I kept going until it was long enough to bend gently into a full circle and finished off as per the video, then using my trusty hot glue gun I fixed the ends together.
     I didn't want to spray my wreath with paint, I like the map look, it fits perfectly with my families love of vehicles.
     I hunted around for some hessian ribbon and found this one at the local florist, it has wired edges making it easy to shape.
     The leaves are die cut and embossed silver mirri card and the three baubles are shatterproof, all fixed on to the wreath with hot glue from Stix2. I couldn't find any royal blue baubles so I used nail varnish to paint a silver one.
     It is fixed to my front door by threading lacing cord through the wreath and then through some tiewrap blocks stuck to the door. We have a porch so the wreath won't get wet, it's quite strong and surprisingly heavy for paper but then it is nearly a whole atlas. After Christmas it may get put away with the rest of the decorations or it may be recycled.


I would like to enter my wreath in the following challenges:
Holly Jolly - Christmas Card or Anything Christmas
Paperminutes - Christmas Decoration
Mixed Media World - Winter Wonderland
Country View - Christmas
Sparkles Christmas - Anything But A Card
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Christmas


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16 comments:

  1. Greta16 December 2016 at 03:53

    Oh my goodness--I'm totally in awe! This is so creative & wonderful!

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  2. Jane Willis16 December 2016 at 15:47

    Beautiful, what an amazing piece of upcycling! Thank you for sharing at Sparkles Christmas
    Jane

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  3. Rachelle Olaridge17 December 2016 at 04:18

    Totally beautiful. Amazing details of altered art. Thanks so much for your entry in our TT challenge. Do come again soon.

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  4. Elaine aka Ellapu17 December 2016 at 21:29

    Rocky you are so damn clever and artistic - always loving your work and you of course Thank you for being part of Altered Eclectics and for joining in over at Eclectic Ellapu this month, Elaine aka Ellapu xxx

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  5. Terri Winske18 December 2016 at 04:11

    What a clever way to repurpose your atlas.....I love it! Thank you for such detailed instructions. So glad you joined us this week at Tuesday Throwdown Challenge! Good luck in the drawing!

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  6. Jane18 December 2016 at 19:03

    Wow this is totally awesome. What a brilliant way to reuse your atlas. Thanks so much for joining in with the fun of our Christmas challenge over at Country View x
    Jane DT

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  7. Kati19 December 2016 at 12:23

    What a fantastic decoration. Thanks for showing it for paperminutes this week.
    hugs
    mamapia

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  8. Mimi19 December 2016 at 16:33

    WOW... this is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time! Really fabulous! Cheers!

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  9. Corrie Herriman19 December 2016 at 19:20

    How creative and with a great result ! Thank you for joining us at Country View Challenges !
    Corrie x

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  10. Jan 19 December 2016 at 19:39

    This is great! Thanks for joining us at TTCRD xx Jan DT

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  11. Sandra Wright.19 December 2016 at 23:41

    Oh my..how much time have you put in to creating this wonderful wreath..its stunning...and very clever.I love it.
    Thank you so much for joining in with this months challenge at Rhedds Creative Spirit...x

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  12. Rupa Swaminathan20 December 2016 at 15:29

    Oh my! You weaved this with paper??? So so neat and what a fab way to recycle!Thanks for sharing this with us at Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month. Good Luck, Rupa.

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  13. Sandra H21 December 2016 at 12:23

    Beautiful is your creation thank you for entering our challenge over at Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Anything but a card" good luck and hope to see you next time Dt Sandra H xx

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  14. Sammy24 December 2016 at 11:04

    What a great idea, and it turned out beautifully! I have a whole stck of old maps waiting to be used too... Thank you for entering your project at Rhedd’s Creative Spirit. Sammy-x

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  15. Elaine aka Ellapu28 December 2016 at 21:19

    and here I am again but this time with my other DT hat on... just stunning babes - Thank you for sharing with us over at Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month and hope to see you again in future challenges.

    Handcrafted by Ellapu
    Mother Hen for Altered Eclectics
    Mother Hen for Eclectic Ellapu
    DT Rhedd's Creative Spirit

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  16. CRAZYCRAFTSHED4 January 2017 at 09:59

    Fabulous and wonderful thank you for joining us over on
    Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge
    Dianne xx
    HJCC DT

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