Preserve Cherished Ornaments

Give a gift of memories on a Christmas wreath this year! 
See this collection before it was wired to the wreath.

       Last year, my older daughter assembled this vintage wreath using dozens of cut felt leaves and her grandmother's collection of turned, wooden ornaments. Smaller collections that once hung on family Christmas trees can be displayed and preserved for future generations on wreaths. This display lends opportunity to appreciate vintage trinkets that ordinarily might get lost in jumbled shoebox collections fit only for rummage sales. What looks broken and uninteresting to folks digging through unwanted items, takes on a new purpose to those who have an eye for designing new displays. Wreaths may be adapted in size and design for far less expense compared to an entire Christmas tree display. They also make elegant, meaningful gifts for those confined to smaller living quarters, such as: retirement homes, tiny apartments, office spaces etc...

"All Merry and Bright" chalkboard wreath

"All Merry and Bright" chalkboard paint design wired into a grapevine wreath.

       My firstborn loves to fashion wreaths during the holidays. She assembled this one using a chalkboard painted logo on a bauble shaped, galvanized steal sign. After wiring the sign to the inside of a grapevine wreath, she wrapped wire around pine branches and faux berry picks, just at the top of the wreath only. Then she hot glued pine cones between the branches for a bit more texture. This wreath hangs cheerfully on my pumpkin colored front door! 

• DIY Chalkboard Painted Ornaments
• How to craft a memo cabinet for the kitchen...

A Moon Themed Christmas Wreath

Left, wire ornament detail. Center, antique buff pink baubles. Right, bent metallic chenille stems.

       This unique moon themed, Christmas wreath was designed, assembled and gifted by my older daughter for her younger sister last year. She collected antique glass baubles and beads to wire into a tinsel wreath that I purchased from a dollar store. She also purchased the moon ornament online and framed it with chenille stems.

• See the DIY pastel bauble ornament wreath that my younger daughter made for me here.

The finished moon themed wreath by my eldest given to my youngest.

"themadeupokie" has a tutorial for making a

ball ornament wreath using vintage and mixed

new ornaments. 

DIY A Bauble Ornament Wreath

A Vintage inspired wreath is easy to assemble if you have plenty of baubles. It takes approximately 80 of these baubles
to complete a full looking 14 inch sized wreath and this is a 16 to 18 inch one. Hannah used newer baubles for her
creation. She is a collector and could not bring herself to deface antique baubles with hot glue.

        My younger daughter crafted this bauble wreath for our home last year and gave it to me for Christmas. So, this year it hung in our dining room! She used several very large packages of new baubles in the following colors: pink, blue, silver and gold. She also included a long garland of small silver beads, a silver reindeer and gold/silver sparkly leaves from a few pics. 

       She started the wreath by selecting a foam wreath form in a large size and wrapping it with a large silk ribbon in blue. Hannah also wrapped a substantial wire in the same ribbon for hanging the wreath and attached it firmly with hot glue to the back side of the form in her second step.

       Then it was a simple process of assembling the baubles with hot glue and around the wreath until she was satisfied with it's appearance. She then hot glued the finishing touches to the bauble wreath, tucking garland, gold leaves and a small reindeer between the baubles with strategic dabs of glue as she went. 

       The entire process took her approximately four hours and caused a few burns on her hands. I loved it and she rolled her eyes as I gushed over her masterpiece. She let me know that she would not be crafting another in the near future and that it would be the only craft she would make for me to post here for a very long time. Hannah is not "a crafty person" and she is always quick to remind me of that little known fact!

Close up photos of this Vintage inspired, bauble wreath.