The other day our golden retriever chewed up an encyclopedia.
Volume C to be exact.
I walked into the dining room and followed the trail of paper shreds to find him with his head between his paws and bits of Andrew Carnegie on his nose.
It was priceless.
I wanted to get mad, but he was so cute I couldn’t.
So I made lemonade from a torn and tattered encyclopedia instead.
Meet my new fall book page wreath.
If you want to make your own, start with a few book pages.
I gathered mine from my dining room floor.
Next, I took a leaf from the yard, traced around it and cut it out.
Repeat that previous step about 40 times.
Finish cutting out all the leaves.
For the base of the wreath, I used a wire wreath form from the floral department of the craft store.
If you don’t have one of these, you could always just cut out a giant ring out of cardboard.
Then start layering the leaves onto the wire wreath (or cardboard wreath) form.
Glue in place.
Don’t overthink it.
Just turn a leaf this way and that way in kind of a haphazard fashion.
Like they fell onto the wreath that way.
That’s it.
Hang it up on some shiplap and you’re done.
When you finish it will look like this.
And this.
I love it.
It’s fresh and fun and fall.
And looks like the perfect encyclopedia lemonade to me. 🙂
PS Here’s Buddy, our golden, looking all repentant.
My husband laughed when I told him and said Buddy might have been trying to read.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him the encyclopedia was written in German. 🙂
Ha! What a great project! I love easy to do, inexpensive projects that are sometimes completed on the whim. This one is perfect. I just did that with my lamp shades when on a whim I decided to tear them apart and cover them with jute. Poor sweet Buddy. He just knew you could make lemonade .... Buy that dog a bone though. Just sayin'. Have a great day my friend! Nancy
What a great story.....and Buddy did look repentant! Glad you were able to salvage some of the pages - love how the wreath turned out! Blessings!
Haha, your Buddy sounds like my Buddy. Too cute to scold but always chewing something up he shouldn't. With his brother egging him on. Life is interning with two border collies. ? Love your leaf wreath made from the book pages. Definitely a way to make lemonade! And it has that neutral look that is so hot right now. It's "savage". Lol. Hugs, Cecilia
*interesting not interning. Sigh, oh autocorrect.
Love this story and project idea, thanks!
Absolutely adorable wreath and of course Buddy is too. We are Golden lovers, have two ourselves. They are the best! I love your Blog Kari Anne, you have such an elegance about you and your home. Thank you for all you share!
Karianne our dog Suzi tore apart the middle cushion of the couch-it looked like popcorn in the livingroom the next morning. Sherry. Had it reupholstered - lasted for years
Great solution the simplicity is wonderful. My dogs - one is 15 and she doesn't have the energy to destroy much of anything anymore the other she's a handful so her time indoors is limited. The farm keeps her busy, Life is better with dogs nearby..
Love Goldens... We had one named Sheba. She and Buddy would surely have been partners crime because Sheba thought she could talk. Scold her for being naughty and she'd tell you a thing or two. Thank goodness for pets and for the fun they bring into our lives. Your Buddy story hit the spot this morning. Thanks so much for sharing the story and this wonderful wreath project. #BringOnTheCheerful #LoveTheWreath XOXO Susie from The Chelsea Project
Buddy probably chewed up the pages in frustration because he couldn't translate the words from German. I feel your pain Buddy. ;)
Very creative and fun!
Love your stories Karianne! Love this wreath too! Ahh life...just full of lemons and lemonade!
You're so halarious!!! And, not to mention that most of us would've tossed the encyclopedia along with those precious tattered inner pages – but not you, you made a craft out of it in record time! You're amazing and so talented. It looks beautiful, and – on purpose!
Perhaps Buddy picked C for Cat. He is a retriever after all . ?
Maybe Buddy is secretly a German Shepherd :) Love the wreath!
Sweet Buddy! Who needs a German encyclopedia anyway:) LOVE the wreath and your cute story, as always!
Well, I'm certainly glad you were so understanding. Your puppy was just trying to find out Dale Carnegie's secret to "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and got Andrew instead :-)You are a master of Lemonade making!! You've got lots of recipes for it. Love the wreath.
Great Story! If Buddy gets hungry at Christmas, you can do snowflakes~ or at Valentine's day, make hearts, Shamrocks if he chews in March, etc.....LOVE the idea....Another idea? Use one of those chewed pages to cut out a dog print or a dog bone, and place it on a picture of Buddy and frame it. Instant Fun Memory!!
Oh Buddy....MAYBE he has a little German Shepherd in him:) What a creative idea...OH I WOULD LOVE TO BE A MOUSE IN YOUR HOUSE FOR JUST A DAY. You are one amazing lady Miss Karianne!
What a great story! Loved it
Such a cute story. I used to have a Cocker named , strangely enough, Savage, we called him Savvy because there was nothing too savage about him. Anyway his favorite chew toys were my house slippers and then he would go dig into my purse and get Tums! Guess the slippers were more than his tummy could handle! Love your stories and the leaf project is so fun and creative. Love ya, girl, you are a hoot!
My 22 year-old son said, "When it comes out of the dog, it will be Encyclopedia Brown!" (You have boys. You know potty humor.) As long as you don't discover that again as you're waking up your house! ?
Ah Poor Buddy...the Cone of Shame without the Cone. Love the Project - Looks Great!
Perhaps Buddy is bilingual!
OMG…great story and recycling was a huge idea. I probably would have just thrown it away. Thanks for the instructions of how you did it. Dogs will do that for sure. Our boxer at the time decided to really like a part of my couch which had just been recovered. By the time I got home foam and material was all over the living room. What a mess!! He looked at me like…I DIDN'T DO IT!! It was something to clean then to buy a new couch.
Aww Maybe Buddy was trying to give you the idea. He probably knew you didn't need an Encyclopedia in German. Anyway it turned out perfect!
Karianne, That's hilarious that it was in German and he was enjoying himself, no matter what! I really LOVE this simple little wreath. I have the perfect spot for it, so I'm going to have to copy your idea and will give you and Buddy all the credit. FYI, I just covered a pumpkin the other day, using brown edged, brittle pages from an old book. Got to love all those printed pages from books we don't read from.
What a simple and beautiful piece of art! You are so talented and you make everything you touch look beautiful. Who would have thought a torn encyclopedia could look so beautiful. Have a great day and thank you for sharing your beautiful and light with the world.
Once again proving you can rise above any situation with your creativity...sometimes, I would guess, not an easy task. You, my friend, are my inspiration!
Awwww....pour baby! Little Scamp! But of course it was Volume C....Chew Toy! ;) Great project!
I love it! I have some large fall leaf cookie cutters. I bet I could trace them & put an assortment of leaf shapes on the wreath. I also bet this would be cute with holly leaves & berries cut out of pages for Christmas!
Oh I just love this KarieAnne! Well done! Thanks for sharing...it looks great. Leticia
Buddy is just adorable ! I love Goldens. I have two. Cute idea for a wreath
That is some sweet lemonade you've made there, KariAnne...and just how did you also manage to devise a project which is perfect for fall and is a project even I should be able to tackle??? I love it! Now, can I borrow Buddy to shred some books for me? I could do it myself, but watching him do it would be much more entertaining! I just adore that face...many kisses to that soft, sweet, encyclopedia-destroying muzzle! *MUAHS!* It's interesting that Buddy chose "C" as his target..."C" is for creative, calm, and caring...yes, Buddy knows his Mommy well! You are such a wonderful Mom to your furbabies, too, KariAnne...I wish more people would follow your lead! Also, I'm sure Hoss is looking down on Buddy, smiling in approval that he chose a German encyclopedia...hehe! Arf Wiedersehen! :)
What a creative use of Buddy's leftovers. Don't be too hard on him....he is a learned dog now!
Clever as usual! Can't wait to make one! Poor Buddie! In this case, good Buddie!
The picture featuring your dog shows yet another example of how you don't seem to understand how to size a rug properly for a room's proportions. Ugh, this drives me crazy.
That is about the best looking encyclopedic lemonade I've ever seen! Gotta make one!!! I'm in love with it!
Just had to comment again.....I think your rug looks proportioned ....and even if it is or it isn't It's your house .....you do what you want with it. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks but you and your loved ones. I love your blog, your house , you, your family and Buddy !!!
Awww..... look at at that sweet baby!! I sure hope you didn't yell at him. They do get into 'stuff' but they are hard enough on themselves once they figure out they did something wrong. He'll make it up to you - just give him a day or so to stop feeling badly about himself. Love him even tho he got into something he shouldn't have... I mean, how many times have we people done something we shouldn't have?? I ALWAYS err on the side of the DOGGIE! :)
I love this! So simple and fresh! What a great way to use something that would have otherwise been thrown away! Maybe, Buddy is part German Shepherd? ??
Another great story, KarieAnn! Buddy seems like a sweet loving dog. I hope he hasen't swallowed any of that torn encyclopedia paper. Thanks for sharing the fall leaf wreath idea. So adorable!
Sending love to you and precious Buddy! An elderly Golden adopted me many years ago... (long story, but a very good one). I named her Bear. I spoiled and loved her for the remainder of her life. Your lemonade encyclopedia is delicious! You know what makes it so yummy? It's the beautiful-positive-creative sugar that you add to it. Some people truly don't understand that sweetness is a vital component for the perfect lemonade recipe. They simply have not been taught. Thank you for adding your sweetness to our lives nearly every day. And by the way... I LOVE the way you place your rugs!! Very creative! ? ❤️ ?
Oh Buddy....... but what a lovely wreath! Would look good using a book where the pages had turned yellows. I'm off to the park to look for the perfect template.
Two words... Creative and cute ♥ summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com
OMG, that really looks pretty <3 Its quite easy and fast to do! Love such DIY! xoxo, Colli my DIY blog - tobeyoutiful
Way to go, Buddy! He won his way onto your pages. Such a creative dog...he knew just what you would do with his artwork! Love it.
Ah this is so priceless and has happened in one way or another to all of us! I love the wreath you made...I'm going to make one too. There's just something special about book pages with a little dog spit on them. :) Happy Thoughts of Home.
Lovely wreath. As a former teacher the first thing I thought was, "Wow, she has a die cutter for the leaves!" Afraid I wouldn't have the patience to hand cut 40 of anything! Happy Fall.
Fresh and fun and fall...you got that right!! I adore it, and I adore your Buddy story!! : )
What a lovely wreath and your photography is spot on, Poor, sweet Buddy- hard to stay mad at that face.
Beautiful Simplicity!
Now we know who the seinbsle one is here. Great post!
Love this idea! thanks for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop last week . . . . I featured this post on my blog this week. Stop by for a visit and see!