Decorative Packaging

Here’s an Independence Day Wreath that celebrates the patriotic musical heritage of America!

Your friends will sing the praises of this vintage Independence Day Wreath! Scrolls of “Yankee Doodle,” “America the Beautiful,” The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” tied with  tri-color striped patriotic grosgrain ribbon, are interspersed with embossed paper stars and tinsel treble clefs for a symphony of patriotic sentiment.

The vintage sheet music for this Independence Day wreath came from an antique school songbook, well-worn from a century of use.

Materials for this Independence Day Wreath 

• Grapevine wreath, 18″ diameter.
• Lightweight photo paper or presentation paper.
• Card stock scrap, 6″ square.
• Ribbon, wired, 1.5″ wide (Roll each of red, white and blue).
• Ribbon, grosgrain, 5/8″ wide (red, white and blue striped).
• Tinsel rods, five (Silver or gold).
• Chenille rod (red, white or blue)
• Gold bell embellishment, about 1.75″ in diameter.
• Clear self-adhesive film (like Con-tact Paper®).
• Hot glue gun.
• Paper cutter.
• Scissors.
• Bone folder.
• Ruler or straight-edge.

Instructions

1. Print the vintage sheet music images on lightweight photo paper or presentation paper. Trim them with a paper cutter or scissors. Gently roll the four corners of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” inward, but leave the image flat. Form each of the other five music sheets into a scroll by rolling it around a pencil diagonally from the bottom right corner. Remove the pencil and fan the scroll out at the top so you can read the music title. Secure it in back with some glue and a piece of tape.
2. Tie the grosgrain striped ribbon into five small bows. Center the bow on the front of each scroll, wrap the streamers around to the back, and glue to the back with the hot glue gun.
3. Print the vintage postcard images on matte photo paper. Print the star template on card stock and cut it out. Position the star template on each vintage postcard image and trace around it withpen or pencil. Cut a square of self-adhesive film to 5.5″ X 5.5″ and adhere it to the image over the traced star pattern, burnishing to eliminate air bubbles. Cut out the star shape from the laminated image with scissors.
4. With the ruler and bone folder, score five lines on the back of the cut-out image, from the tip of each ray through the center (We drew the lines with a pen for this photo, to indicate the score lines). Fold the star on each score line, burnishing each fold on the front with the bone folder. When all folds are completed, valley-fold the short folds between the center point and the point where the rays join and form a 3-dimensional star.
5. Using the treble clef pattern as a template, bend the tinsel rods into five treble clefs. Twist the tinsel rod around itself once where it crosses, to hold the shape.
6. Tie a large bow using the red, white and blue wired ribbons. Attach the gold bell ornament to the center of the bow with a chenille rod twisted behind the bow.
7. Attach the bow to the top of the wreath with the chenille rod twisted in the back. Wrap a single red wired ribbon around the wreath in a spiral, securing the ends behind the bow with hot glue.
8. Glue “The Stars and Stripes Forever” music sheet at about 10 o’clock on the wreath with hot glue.
9. Position the music scrolls, embossed stars and treble clefs around the wreath and glue them on securely with the hot glue gun.
10. Hang your Independence Day Wreath on your door, over your fireplace or in a window, and then try to sing all the verses of “America the Beautiful” from memory. Or even the second verse of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Or just whistle “Yankee Doodle.”

Tips

• We started with a grapevine wreath because they are always available at craft stores, and they lend a traditional, country look. Of course, you can adapt this craft to any available wreath form, from a stretched-out wire coat hanger (wrapped with newspaper and ribbon) to a Styrofoam ring.
• Clear self-adhesive film (like Con-tact Paper®) is the “poor man’s lamination.” We use it on this craft to make the paper stars moisture proof, and to add a professional plastic sheen to them. We hesitated to do the same to the sheet music scrolls because we liked the matte parchment look of the plain paper. You might want to spray several coats of clear sealer or varnish on the music scrolls to make them less susceptible to the weather.

Our inspiration for this Independence Day Wreath came from a great craft book, Celebrate the Red, White & Blue, published in 2002 by Better Homes and Gardens Books. This book has 101 patriotic crafts and food ideas, as well as a lot of information about the history and traditions of the American flag.