I'm the Martha Stewart of Early Childhood!

I guess I have been stressed lately, because this week I have developed a twitch in my right hand. Good thing fall break is around the corner! I decided to take a little time this morning to de-stress, so when I came across some scraps of brown bulletin board paper, I used my planning time to whip up a quick recycled-paper fall wreath.

First I cut a hole in a paper plate and wrapped brown paper around the plate, adhering it with tape.

Then I added brown paper flowers and leaves, using hot glue.

 To make the leaves, I cut three different sizes of paper circles, crumpled them up, and hot-glued them together in layers. The center of each flower is just a small crumpled ball of paper. For the leaves, I cut leaf shapes, pinched each one at the bottom, and hot-glued the pinched sides together. I glued seven flowers around the wreath, and then I glued the leaves in between the flowers.

The whole thing took about 15 or 20 minutes to make. How cute would this be in red and green for Christmas? Or black and orange for Halloween?

I am trying to find a way to make this wreath without using hot glue, because I think it would be a great activity for students to do. They could use papers from the recycle bin, old newspapers, or magazine pages. The leaves could be stapled at the bottom instead of hot-glued, and the layers of flowers could be stapled together... maybe they could attach it all to the wreath using double-sided tape. I just don't think white glue would be strong enough, and it takes forever to dry. Tacky glue? Glue dots? I know it could be done. What a great fall activity or Mother's Day gift!

Happy wreath-making!