We all have them – old hardback books, paperbacks we’ll never read again, even pages from old coloring books. Most of these things are given away, stuck in boxes and shoved in the basement – or worse – the trash. Stop doing that. Please. Each time you throw away books and papers you create more garbage plus you dispose of a new decorator piece. That’s right; paper medallions are simple yet pretty and can be used in many different ways.
Since different sizes of books will make different sizes of medallions, decide how large or small you want your medallion to be. A Styrofoam wreath shape is used to make some medallions; a metallic wreath ring is used for really tiny medallions. Just choose a ring that’s suitable for what you have in mind. That is, you won’t want to put large book pages on a tiny wreath nor tiny book pages on a huge wreath shape. The wreath and book pages should be proportionate.
The best medallion is made when you use pages from two different sizes of books. Tear a page out of the smaller book, roll the page from one short end to the opposite end – loosely – then use hot glue to attach the rolled page to the wreath form. The page should be rolled so loosely that you’ll only roll the paper three to four times. Run a line of glue across the page, where the rolled paper stops, then stick that side to the wreath form. Tear a page from the larger book, roll it, and stick it to the wreath form, right next to the first roll. The rolls should be placed so that the ends go into the center of the wreath form opening, not on the very edge.
Continue rolling and gluing the pages onto the wreath form so that you alternate between the two sizes. Do this until you completely cover the ring. When you’re finished you can hang the medallion as it is or you can paint it. You can even add decorative touches to it. For example, cover a cardboard circle with newspaper or a book page and glue the circle over the middle of the medallion.
Mount the medallion on a wall, closet door, ceiling, and other places around the house. Or, make a tiny versions and use them as curtain tie-backs, glue one on each corner of a mirror or picture frame, or use them to decorate lampshades. The medallions are a nice way to recycle books that would normally end up in the trash.
Paper Wreath Medallion