I am normally not one to start any Christmas projects before Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't wait anymore. I had been seeing ornament wreaths all over Pinterest for months, and decided awhile ago that I was going to make one this year. I started going through all of the different pins for ideas on how to make it. Each one seemed to make their wreath in a different way, so I decided to go with my gut and just wing it. I started collecting ornaments from all over. I was going with a red, green, and gold theme which ended up adding in a bit of silver and white. I really wanted to have a few vintage pieces in there as well as keep the budget in control, so I scoured thrift stores. (Seriously, Julie [my mother] and I went to at least 5 in a single afternoon.) I started to get a pretty good collection. So much so that it started to take over my table, and that is when I decided it was time to begin.
Seriously, there was no room to do anything with all these ornaments! |
What you'll need:
- Varying sizes in ornaments. (Make sure you get a good variety so they can fit together nicely!) I used between 50-75
- Hot Glue and Gun (You'll need lots of this too)
- Foam Tubing (Go to Home Depot and grab a 6ft piece for 97 cents!)
- Tape (I used masking tape, but I think duct tape would work better)
- Thick Ribbon or 2 inch strips of fabric. (This is to wrap around your wreath form so it is less visible and the glue will have a better surface to stick to)
- Floral Wire (To make a hanger for the wreath)
-Scissors
-Optional: Glittery Puff Balls (I used these to fill in gaps) Garland, beads, pearls, etc
I got these from a thrift store 3/.99 but I'm sure craft stores would have something similar |
What You'll Do:
- To start, take your plumbing foam and cut it down to size. You'll want to cut it big enough so that when you form it into a circle, that would be your wreath form. (You could always buy a wreath form, but those are expensive and ain't nobody got the money for that.) I used hot glue on both of the ends and then taped it together to make sure it was secure.
- I felt there would be an issue with the glue sticking well to the foam/tape (plus it was ugly) so I wrapped my now wreath form in some thick green ribbon I had gotten in one of the bags of ornaments from the thrift store. I used hot glue to secure both of the ends and then went through and added a small dot between each of the layers to make sure they weren't going anywhere.
That little dip at the bottom came out super easy! It just took a little extra shaping. |
- Now it's time to get started gluing! You're going to want to do the inside of the wreath and the outside of the wreath first to create a base. Have the tops of the ornaments facing you. This will be the back of the wreath. Make sure you use plenty of glue to hold them on!
I used sort of a pattern for mine. |
Note: Don't use your favorite or prettiest ornaments in the base. Most likely a good portion of them will be covered so no one will see them.
- Keep adding on the ornaments. Use a lot of variety in your sizing when filling in gaps and remember to look at your wreath from multiple angles including straight on (the way you would when it is hanging)
- Here comes your optional step: If you want to use glitter puff balls to fill in the empty gaps (or you could use garland, beads, pearls etc) do it now! I would set them up the way you think you want them to look before you start gluing just to make sure you like it. You can add a big bow in at this time if you'd like too. (I thought about it and I didn't like the way it looked, so I chose to do it without)
- You've made it!! This is your final step. Cut a decent portion of floral wire. You'll be making a hook/loop on the back of your wreath to hang it from. Wrap the wire around the wreath form, NOT the ornaments. Weave that little guy through and wrap it around a couple of times and make a loop on the back with it.
Voila! You did it!
You made a custom ornament wreath for WAY less than you would have paid in stores, and you did it your way. Now go hang it up and have people ask where you got it from.
Tips on Where to Get Ornaments!
So finding ornaments at this time of the year at a thrift store might be a little bit more difficult than one may think. Many people are out looking for them to put on trees or for various other projects. There are some other options, just make sure you keep your prices in check and don't go out of control. Make sure you check your price per ornament in packages and I suggest keeping it well below 50 cents an ornament (I didn't pay over 35.) Since it's the holiday season, many places are putting ornaments on sale.
- Target: Of course Target would be the first place on a list like this. They have an entire, huge holiday section. Look for deals on Cartwheel and the Target app. Also, they have a tube of mini ornaments in the dollar section that were a life saver for me!
- Big Lots: I got a great deal on some ornaments on sale here. They had a big variety and were not very costly.
- Five Below: While I didn't purchase any ornaments from here, they did have a fairly decent selection.
- The Dollar Store: Not the first place you would think to look, but they have some pretty good deals!
Wherever you get ornaments from, make sure you like them! You'll be looking at these for the rest of the holiday season. Don't just say "I guess I could hide these and use them as fillers." If worse comes to worse, get some clear bulbs from Michael's and make them your own!
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