Tis the season! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday...full of family, friends, the inevitable food coma, and Black Thursday Friday shopping. Now that Thanksgiving is over, you know what that means...it's CHRISTMAS TIME! I love Christmas. It is my absolute favorite holiday (Even more so than my birthday, and you know how all about that I am). Christmas in my family was always such a fun time for me and brings back memories of tree decorating, watching Rudolph and Frosty, making Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music, and (my personal favorite) opening gifts on Christmas morning. I'm already excited over here, so let's bring the Christmas spirit into my new house.
About a year ago while perusing Pinterest, I came across this wreathe. It wasn't your typical Christmas wreathe however. This one was made entirely of ornaments. It was Christmas love at first sight. It was so beautiful I just had to have one. I looked around last year, but the nice ones were pretty expensive. I saw some as much as $100-$150, and there was no way I was paying for that. They were nice, but it is never that serious. So, I decided....*wait for it*...TO MAKE ONE! After looking around (lots of YouTubing and Googling), it didn't seem to be that hard to do. Grab a bunch of ornaments, and get to gluing. Seemed easy enough, so I went for it.
First I needed something to adhere the ornaments to, some sort of base. I came across lots of options, but I decided on a 16" styrofoam circle. I got mine from Michaels. It seemed to make the most sense, and be the easiest to work with. I noticed most people didn't use these because they are pretty pricey. I however, had a coupon (I ALWAYS have Michaels coupons), so it was 50% off.
Color theme?...classic Christmas colors, red, green, white, and silver. I started gathering my large ornaments. For anyone who doesn't live in craft stores, they bring out their holiday stuff around September. (I know, crazy huh?) For the last month or so it's all been 50% off. To my delight I saw these large canisters of red, green, and white ornaments all for $25 each. At 1/2 off that makes them $12.50. That's not bad. I mean, I figured this was going to cost some money. Now comes in the real justification. They were big enough so they would cover a good portion of the wreathe, thus needing less smaller ones. Also, with there being so many in each canister, I figured I would use about half of each and what was left I could use to put on my tree. (Way to dual purpose!)
I came across so many methods on how to make one of these. The best way to start I found was to cover the inside and outside perimeter first. So, with my trusty gun in hand, I started gluing away. For extra hold I dabbed a little in between each ornament too.
I was on a roll. This wasn't hard at all. I was up watching movies and catching up on my DVR. So, I kept going. With the perimeter done, I tackled another full 2 rows on the inside and outside. Now, on a side note: One of the craziest things is that the minute I started working on this thing, they start putting the Christmas stuff out in all of the stores. Can you believe they sell these things EVERYWHERE now. Last year I couldn't find one to save my life. This year they're all over the place from Target, to Homegoods, to Home Depot, and they're not that pricey either. Just my luck! It's okay though. Mines is going to look soooo much better. (It has to if I'm going to justify to myself making instead of purchasing)
With the majority of the big ornaments placed, it was time to get the smaller ones. I went to Michaels and went crazy. They were having 50% off of some of their ornaments too. (I tell you there is never a reason to spend a lot of money on nice Christmas stuff. I don't think I have paid full price for anything yet.) I went in there and bought a ton of ornaments all different sizes, colors, and textures. I wasn't sure what I would need, and I would rather have too much than not enough. I just filled the basket. Whatever I didn't use I would just bring back (It's the American Way). Unfortunately, I realized once I had placed all of the big ornaments, I was a little too ambitious. I didn't plan right. The look I was going for was more of a cluster. With so many big ornaments on, it was quite difficult to easily place the smaller ones. I checked out my progress and knew, I wasn't gong to get the look that I was going for. I pondered and then headed back to Googltubing (Yes, I just made a word). I found out that after the beginning rows you should make a cluster and then build from there. Unfortunately, I got glue gun crazy, and put myself into a tight spot.
They were already stuck on so I couldn't just move them. I tried working around them. That was a FAIL. It just started to look extra crazy. I really didn't want to start over from scratch. That would be a lot of ornaments wasted. It would be better if I could salvage them, but after being hot glued I didn't see this happening. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I yanked at one. I wiggled a little, yanked a lot, stabbed the styrofoam a couple of times, and what do you know it came off. *Sigh* A little scuffed and battered, but not bad. I could definitely work with it. I pulled off the remaining ornaments and went back to the original inner and outer rings.
With a clean slate I started covering the wreathe, adding onto the cluster a little at a time. Placing the bigger ornaments, and then filling around with the smaller ones. Not as easy as I would have thought, but I did the best I could. I got about half of the way done when I realized it is almost impossible to fill in every hole and completely cover the styrofoam. It wasn't too bad, but bad enough for my OCD to kick in and not let me ignore it. I should have covered the styrofoam first but I didn't think it would be necessary. I saw where some people had covered their base first. I just thought they were doing too much, and trying to be overly fancy. Now I see why. At this point I was already half way done. I was not pulling them off again. So, I improvised. I smeared the styrofoam with glue, and then covered it with silver glitter. For the half I already did, I poured glue in between the cracks and from the under side
You know, I should really have put something down. You can see the glitter mess that ensued. *My poor floors* I just get so caught up sometimes I never stop to protect the area around me. (That's probably why all of my sweatpants are ruined.) I kept gluing and arranging, arranging and gluing. I went through so many glue sticks it was unbelievable. Towards the end it got a little difficult. There was little room for shifting so every ornament had to fit perfectly. I covered what space was left until I was done. It took me awhile, but I finally got it. TA-DAH! We have an ornament wreathe!
She's a beauty! I'm kind of impressed with myself, especially for my first time *Doing my happy dance*. It was touch and go there a few times, but definitely pulled it through. It was perfect! I marveled for a few days at my handy work. It was finally done....now where was I going to put it?
I figured I would hang it somewhere, so I might as well go ahead and add a hook in the mean time. I got an eye hook, and screwed it into the back of the styrofoam. With the majority of it the way in, I shot it with a dab of hot glue to secure it. I found some red ribbon in my stash, and tied a few knots.
It ended up on my back patio door. Why is it not outside on the front door you ask? I thought about that. However, first I was thinking someone would take it. Sounds stupid, but I've had my welcome mat stolen before.*Who takes someone's door mat? Really?! How sketchy can you be.* Then we got a batch of really bad weather. The rain and the wind were howling something serious. I was kind of glad I didn't have it out there. I decided it might be best to just keep it inside. It's in my kitchen, so I get to see it everyday. I may put it outside for a couple of days, we'll see.
While we're on the topic of Christmas, let's talk about decorating. As many of you know this is my first year putting up a tree and decorating my house. I usually spend the holidays in Boston, so it didn't make much sense to decorate for a day I wouldn't be here to celebrate. Also, I didn't have anywhere to put the tree for the other 11 months that I wouldn't be using it. I wasn't a total Scrooge though. I did put up a table top tree and a wreathe I would hang on the chair. I promised myself that once I got a house I was getting a tree, and that's exactly what I did.
I love it! They have definitely updated the technology since I was a kid putting up lights with my mom. These things sparkle like stars. It's quite magical. My neighbors have been decorating for a couple of weeks now, so I'm behind. I also decorated a wreathe (that I will actually put out on the front door). I decided to do a themed wreathe every year. I originally had the idea for a tree, but that's a lot of new bulbs every year. Besides, I like a more eclectic tree. This year's theme is "Classic Christmas".
So, I think I'm ready for Christmas. (I'm so excited I'm already thinking of next years wreathe theme) I think I did well for my first year. What do you think? I hope everyone else is enjoying the season as much as I am. Let me know if anyone needs a boost of cheer because I have plenty!
.....On to the next project
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