I kept seeing these adorable ornament wreaths in the store, but I couldn’t find one that was quite right. The metallic colors that I normally love got lost with the colors of our house. And the bright, colorful wreaths were just a little much for me.
So, I decided to try my hand at making one. I picked up a 12 inch foam wreath base, a canister of 50 standard-size red and white ornaments, a box of small red and white polka dot ornaments, and some mini red and white glitter ornaments.
Start by popping the tops off of all the ornaments. Then, begin arranging them around the outside of the wreath, with the opening facing down. Using a hot glue gun, attach the ornaments to the wreath, so that they are just touching. If you get to the end, and have an opening that doesn’t quite fit an ornament, don’t force it. Leave it open.
Next, attach ornaments in the same fashion around the inside of the circle.
Now, it’s time to start building the wreath up. The perfectionist in me wanted to go around the wreath in an orderly pattern, placing the ornaments in the same way, but it doesn’t work well. I found it easiest to arrange a few together, then glue them into place.
Tip: Do not skimp on the glue. You want this to stay together, and it’s really difficult to get back in there cleanly. Also, do not freak out if the glue gun is leaving small strings when you pull away. They will rub off later.
Another tip: If you are using a canister of ornaments, which is the cheapest way to buy them, then you may find that you have more of one color than another. Mine had more red than white. So, when you’re choosing ornaments to place together, make sure you are using the ornaments proportionally to how many you have, otherwise you’ll end up with a clump of one color at the end.
To give my wreath a little bit of character, I wanted to use some polka dot ornaments. Because my smaller ornaments had a pattern, instead of being solid, I waited to place them until after I placed all the larger ornaments. I wanted to make sure the polka dots weren’t buried.
After I finished adding the smaller ornaments, I let the entire wreath dry overnight. You don’t have to, but I wanted to be able to prop my wreath up and look at it more carefully before I added the mini, fill-in ornaments.
After identifying holes and clumps of color that needed to be broken up, I laid the wreath down on a chair (with a paper bag underneath to protect the chair) so I could stand over it and look at it more face on. I placed the mini-ornaments without gluing them first, so I could fine tune the look. Then I went around the wreath in one direction, gluing them on.
Once the wreath is completely dry, I hung the wreath on the front door with a 3M hook. I didn’t use an “outdoor” hook, but instead one with a plastic base and a metal prong. Before putting it on the door, I pressed the hook up into the foam, where it would hang, creating a little indent so that it was more secure when up on the door.
I love the way it turned out. It is fun, and personalized. Best yet, all of the supplies cost way less than buying one already made!
