Springfold Paper/All plans/Printable templates/2026-10
Wreath Base Ring: Twenty-Four Leaves, Three Greens
A paper wreath fails when the leaves are all the same size and all pointing the same way. This one uses three leaf lengths, three greens, and a placement rule that walks the direction around the ring by 15° per leaf so the wreath has a clear top and bottom.
Form the ring on a hoop, not freehand
Cut the 300 gsm ring blank 30 mm wide with a 20 mm lap at one end, then wrap it round a 280 mm hoop or plate and tape it there while you glue the lap. A 300 gsm strip formed freehand gives a wreath that is round on the table and elliptical when hung on a wall.
Keep the ring on the former until every leaf is attached. Leaves pull the ring out of shape far more than the ring's own weight does, and it will not recover once the PVA has set.
Cut three sizes and keep them in three piles
88, 78 and 70 mm, eight of each, in three different greens. Mixing leaf sizes within one pile is what makes a paper wreath look hand-cut, and it is also the most common reason the finished piece looks busy rather than layered.
Cut each pile from a stack of eight so the leaves within a size are identical. The variation should be between sizes, not within them.
Cup the leaves and set the fold direction once
Draw the 7 mm ball down each leaf from base to tip, twice, on the front face. Then, working round the ring, place leaves so the tips lean the same way at the bottom of the wreath and lean outward at the top — that change of direction is what makes a wreath read as having a top.
Every third leaf gets a second cross-fold 20 mm from the base. This small break in the pattern is the difference between a wreath that looks arranged and one that looks manufactured, and it costs about four minutes over 24 leaves.
Glue from the bottom of the wreath and finish at the top
Start at the 6 o'clock position and work round both ways, finishing at 12 o'clock. Starting at the top means the last leaf has to be fitted into the tightest gap, and that leaf is always the visible one.
Keep the colours rotating as you go: large over medium over small, repeated eight times round the ring. If you group the sizes instead, the wreath has an obvious heavy side that no amount of additional leaves fixes.
Specification
| Ring | 280 mm outside diameter, 30 mm wide, 300 gsm |
|---|---|
| Leaves | 24 across three sizes: 88, 78 and 70 mm |
| Colours | Three greens, one per size, placed so no two touching leaves match |
| Rotation | 15° per leaf — 24 leaves × 15° = one full turn |
| Working time | 65 minutes, 25 of them placing leaves |
| Blank size | 108 x 1470 mm |
| Pieces | 24 |
| Assembled | 24 leaves on a 89 mm stem |
Fold order
| Line | Kind | Angle |
|---|---|---|
| Leaf spine, valley, all 24 | valley | 175° |
| Mounting tab, valley, 5 mm, folded behind the ring | valley | 180° |
| Every third leaf gets a second cross-fold at 20 mm to break the regularity | valley | 160° |
Cut list
- Twenty-four leaves at 88 mm, cut in three stacks of eight
- One 280 mm ring blank, 30 mm wide, in 300 gsm
- Two ring ends with a 20 mm overlap lap
- Three leaf sizes: 88, 78 and 70 mm, eight of each
Check the plan against the object
What goes wrong
- Forming the 300 gsm ring freehand, so it dries as an oval.
- Grouping the three leaf sizes instead of rotating them — the wreath ends up heavy on one side.
- Starting at the top, which forces the last and most visible leaf into the tightest space.
Keep it clean
- Hang the wreath from the ring, never from a leaf. A leaf takes about 300 g before it tears.
- Store flat with tissue between the leaves. Stacked leaves take a set within a fortnight and cannot be re-cupped.
- 180 gsm leaves fade under direct sun within a season; keep the wreath on an interior door.
Also in this section
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- Leporello Card: 630 mm, Six Panels, One Fold Rule — 2026-09-02 · 55 min
- Cone Treat Pouch: One A4, Twenty Minutes — 2026-09-17 · 20 min