Ornament Wreath How To

Per Friday's post I decided I wanted to make an ornament wreath for my front door this weekend. I (thankfully) was free of plans on Saturday so I decided to get to work after dinner. I had picked up all my ornaments and other supplies when at Michael's and Hobby Lobby (all for 40% and 50% off) and got a general idea and some inspiration from Good Housekeeping. I deviated from their instructions a bit, but used them as a guide.

 Originally, I had planned to do hot pink, lime green and pearl colored ornaments, but the selection was pretty lacking. In the end I found a lovely selection of pale pink, green and gold ornaments, many with glitter (added bonus and necessity for this project in my opinion), so I opted to go use those for a more vintage feel.

 All the ornament wreath how-to's I read said you had to use a straw wreath for this project. However, this really just did not appeal to me for some reason so I decided I would try this with a floral foam wreath as it was not only more wallet friendly, but less messy too. With that being said, here is what you need to make your very own ornament wreath:

Scissors

Pins

Ribbon (for hanging)

Floral Foam Wreath Form (I used a 12 inch)

LOTS of ornaments (I used 90 on a 12 inch wreath); both big and small, all sizes are needed!

3 Sheets of Felt (you will need more for a larger wreath form)

Hot Glue Gun with EXTRA sticks (you go through these like water)

First, I cut each piece of felt into three strips. I choose pale pink felt as that was part of my color scheme. The felt might should through the ornaments upon close inspection so use a color that goes with your ornament selections.

Wrap the pieces of felt all the way around the wreath, securing them into place with pins. The pins stay in the foam and are very secure. This is a very important step as you will glue the ornaments to the felt and do not want anything falling off later.

Once your entire wreath is wrapped in felt attach the ribbon you will use to hang your wreath. This should be done prior to gluing on your ornaments as there will be no where for it to go later.

 Now comes the fun, and most rewarding part, start hot gluing on your ornaments! Use the larger ornaments first. Glue then to the felt and also to one another. You want everything to be very secure so nothing should be wiggling or lose; the more glue the better (I went a tad crazy and did gave my glue gun a workout). 

Fill in smaller spaces with your smaller ornaments. If you look very closely at the above photo you can see some spots where the pink felt shines through, hence why you want to pick a felt that matches your ornament color scheme. You would not want the felt to detract from the final product. I filled all the "holes" that I could, but did not want to continue to stack too many ornaments in certain place so this just sort of happened, but is not at all noticeable in my opinion.You can judge for yourself, here is my end product"

 I am obsessed with it and just LOVE how it turned out! I was also surprised by how quickly I was able to complete the wreath. Many online how-to's said to allow 4 to 8 hours...I did the entire wreath in just under two hours. The hardest part was deciding which ornament should go where and create a balance amongst the ornaments and make sure all the glitter ornaments had prime spots on the wreath :)

 This is the perfect project for those wanting to create something festive for the holidays. Most ornaments are on sale at craft stores right now so it can be done on a budget as well. 

I am now patiently waiting for Friday to arrive so that I can put my "vintage" inspired ornament wreath on my door! That really is the hardest part.

Happy crafting to all!