Weaving Holiday Magic: DIY Shimmering Paper Wreaths

Yes, we had an early snowfall this year!

Inspiration and Paper Strips

A few weeks ago, I came across a You Tube video that showed the construction of a woven paper ornament that was so intriguing, I knew it would be THE one for 2025. The channel name is I. Sasaki * gift wrapping techniques and as soon as I get a chance, I plan to delve into more of her beautiful videos.

A quick search for 3/8" (1 cm) paper strips led me the Froebel Mint Etsy shop from which I purchased a package of Holiday Shimmer strips. Each metallic paper strip measures 3/8" x 15 1/4" (1 cm x 39 cm). They arrived quickly from Ohio, and the owner, Frances Jane, included this white paper star - so tiny! I've made lots of folded stars, but none were as special as this little one.

Process and Tips

I won't try to reinvent the wheel as the video is excellent. However, here's my supply list and a few tips that occurred to me while I followed along: 

Supplies

Holiday Shimmer strips - 3/8" (1 cm)

glue of choice (Elmer's Clear Glue or Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue)

plastic lid - to serve as glue palette

clay modeling tool - to apply glue; a fine-tipped glue bottle as used in the video is a fine alternative 

long tweezers

small scissors  

damp cloth - to wipe sticky fingers 

metallic ornament string or paper twine (the latter was from PaperPhine)

Because the package contains five colors, this gives the possibility of ten color combinations. I chose silver and gold for one, and red and green for the other. I especially like the green shade because rather than bright, traditional Christmas green, it's a lighter color that makes a modern contrast to the deep red strips.

I found that each ornament requires a total of 18 strips, or 9 of each color when using Froebel Mint's strips. This means you'll be able to make five complete ornaments from one package. I'm looking forward to making two more like the ones I already made, plus one all-white ornament, thinking it will stand out especially well against deep green Christmas tree boughs. 

Weaving Techniques

I made the first one sitting in front of my computer so I could pause the video every few seconds. First off, it's so relaxing to do this type of weaving! It brought me back to mornings spent at my elementary school's summer playground where I would weave lanyards with plastic string. We called it the boondoggle stitch.

I found it easiest to work on two ornaments at once because the glue I used was not a tacky (quick-dry) type. That way, I could attach four new strips when needed, and let them dry while I worked on the other ornament. By the time I ran out of strip length on that ornament, the other one was ready for more weaving.

Here you can see where I've added two strips and have two more to glue.

Joining the strips with glue was a bit tricky at first, but stopping and starting the video at the crucial point showed how it's done. You'll trim the strip ends so there is a remainder of about 3/8" (1 cm). Apply a small amount of glue to the end of a new strip and adhere it to the previous one, overlapping about 1/4" (.64 cm).

I thought of purchasing a different glue product, but actually my Elmer's clear gel worked surprisingly well. My method was to put a small puddle on a plastic lid, let it set for a few minutes to begin to thicken, and apply a dab with the tip of my trusty clay modeling tool that comes in handy for so many things. 

The next thought was that this type of weaving is easy on the hands. Sometimes crafters deal with repetitive stress injuries, so if that has happened to you, this ornament would be a good project to try.

Finishing Touches

You'll want to weave with even tension. Here's a red/white trial example that I started with 1/4" (.64 cm) strips, but I didn't finish it when I noticed I'd worked way too tightly at first. You can see where I relaxed my finger pressure once I knew what I was doing.   

After weaving 44 'sets' of 4, the stretchy woven rods were ready to be turned into mini-wreaths. I found the most difficult part of the process was the final gluing because you'll want to  give a little twist to the woven rods as shown in the video, and glue the ornament string in place at the same time. Tweezers were helpful here to hold the two ends together for a few minutes once everything is positioned the way you want it.

My finished ornaments measure 2.5" (6.4 cm) in diameter and 1" (2.54 cm) deep. I love the way the design swirls in the center.