Married to the Empire

Friday, December 10, 2010

Ornament Wreath

This particular project has been on my list for a year.  I saw it on someone's blog last year(except now I can't figure out which blog--oops) and wanted to make it.  It's pretty basic, as it simply requires shatterproof Christmas balls and a wire hanger.  I bought a bunch of ornaments last year after Christmas for something like $1/box.  I figured it would be enough, but I wound up making an emergency run to Walmart one night this week to pick up a $5 box of coordinating ornaments.  Still, I'm pretty sure I spent a mere $9-10 on this. 

The general instructions:
  1. Remove the tops from the ornaments and put them back on with glue.  Be sure to do this.  I didn't, and my ornaments keep popping off. 
  2. Take apart a wire hanger and bend it into a circle. 
  3. Start stringing ornaments onto the wire.  It helps to have some small ornaments to mix in to help fill some of the spaces.
  4. Twist the wire closed.  (I had to have my husband do this, as I just didn't have the strength for it.  This is also where the ornaments started popping off their hangers, so seriously, follow step 1.)
  5. Add a ribbon, if you want.  (I'll probably go buy something more Christmasy, but that's what I had on hand.)

6 comments:

Beth said...

That's it? It sounds easy! I have been looking for an ornament wreath for a couple years now. Yours came out so beautiful! I think I might actually try to make one...

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

The only hard part is getting the wire into a proper circle. The ribbon on mine is currently hiding some lopsidedness. But it's otherwise super easy. If you find ornaments after Christmas, it's super cheap, too. I think I bought mine at Target for 90% off.

Beth said...

I will definitely hit Target after Christmas for ornaments, I want one of those wreaths! Thanks for the instructions, I would never have attempted it myself.

Jen said...

Beautiful! I was thinking of trying this with some old real ornaments - I saw something like it on Shabby Chic many years ago, but glued onto a foam base. The shatterproof ones sound smarter though. Thanks for sharing this!

*carrie* said...

That's really pretty, Anne Marie. I've seen something similar, but can't recall where, either!

Rhonda said...

very pretty! it is on my to-do list too, maybe next year.

I "think" the original credit for the coat hanger method goes to a guy named Eddie Ross who worked for Martha Stewart for awhile. He has a blog by his name,