Monday, November 23, 2009

Ornament Wreath 101

After seeing this ADORABLE ornament wreath on a million other blogs, I knew this had to be my next project.

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SO cute, right?!  And Eddie Ross was telling me I could actually do it myself?!  Score!!!  

First up…a stop at the Dollar Tree.  I don’t know if you frequent that place, but being a teacher, I swear I’m there ALL the time.  The last time I was there, I saw that they had a pretty cute little selection of ornaments, so that’s where I scored what I needed for this fun little do-it-yourself project. 

Here’s what you’ll need to get started…

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A glue stick, a wire coat hanger, and ornaments.  I love the look of different sized ornaments, so as you can see, I have a little assortment of both big, medium, & small for mine :)

Take your wire hanger and bend it into a circle…or in my case, something that’s in the ballpark of being circular?!

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Now.  This next part is VERY important.  I didn’t think so at first, but it is.  You need to secure the metal hook to the ornament with hot glue.  OTHERWISE, your balls will pop off in all different directions and it’ll take you 10 x’s longer to do something that should only take 30 minutes out of your day.  I tried to do this without the hot glue and this is what happened…

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Thank the Lord I was only about 4 ornaments into the project or I’d have been BEYOND annoyed!!!  Once you’ve secured your ornaments, just thread them on to the hanger.  It’s gonna look like it’s not working at first and you’ll wonder if you’ve missed a step.  I mean, this hardly looks like Eddie Ross’s version…

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But keep going…and make sure to alternate colors and sizes as you go.  I used my teensy ornaments to fill in the gaps and it worked perfectly!  The more you add, the better it looks.  See?!…

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I was getting SO excited as I kept going.  Okay, my excitement might’ve been interrupted with the occasional cuss word when I burnt my fingers with the hot glue gun or when one of my cheap little ornaments broke, but all-in-all, I was PUMPED!!!   When I was finally finished,  I couldn’t believe it was actually as easy as Eddie said it would be!!!!

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I mean, c’mon y’all.  That’s dang cute.  Word to the wise…if you do use the Dollar Tree ornaments, just  beware that the hooks break easily :)  I used a total of 70 ornaments for this little project, but I could’ve probably used a little more!!!  When you’re finished, you might have  a little workspace that looks like this…

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And if you’re anything like me, you might actually think about leaving everything where it is for your husband to clean up the next day. 

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Now I need to figure out where to put it!!!!

Total cost: $11.

Not too shabby, right?!

62 comments:

  1. So cute! I love this project. Going to try it myself soon! Thanks!

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  2. I love it....you made it look and sound so easy! I am impressed you were able to take pictures as you went along!

    super cute...thanks for sharing and i LOVE this new little blog!

    One more thing to add to the list of things that makes wonder how in the world you manage to get all the stuff done you do. You are wonder woman!

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  3. So ridiculously cute!! And to think, I almost bought one of those at Pottery Barn last year...I would've been REALLY sad if I had wasted the money because this looks like a project that my completely untalented self could probably do :) YAY!!! I think I'll be hitting up the dollar store tomorrow!

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  4. Girl, you are so freaking crafty! I'm going to try to do this, it's precious!

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  5. I have followed your blog for a while now, so I am finally ready to comment! :) You have the most adorable family and the most creative ideas!!! I am so glad you started this blog so I can "copy" all your fantastic projects. Thanks for sharing!!!

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  6. Hi! LOVE your new blog...that wreath is adorable!

    I am not much of a cook AT ALL and NEVER, EVER try new recipes. BUT...thanks to you, I made the Upside Down Taco Pizza last week and the King Ranch Chicken last night!!!!!!!!!!! My husband and I BOTH thank you! D-lish and very much so new staples in our menu!!!

    Hope you got my two crazy e-mails about the cards. You rock!

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  7. Love the craft!! I will be "stealing" the idea for my house! Looking forward to reading more about your creative ideas on this blog!

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  8. So...I've already gone to Dollar Tree and bought ornaments! I will be trying this over the break- so excited!!
    LOVE the new blog idea! Completely fun and frivolous Cara at work!

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  9. Girl, how DO you do so much?! Can you start a blog that tells us your secrets? That would be something :) This is too cute. I'm so broke right now, but I'm sure I'll see lots of stuff I'd love to make!

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  10. I love this, finally an easy wreath I can do. I was heading to the dollar store today to buymore ornaments...thanks. I LOVE THE DOLLAR TREE!`

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  11. Thank you so much for this fabulous idea! A friend and I made some and she also suggested creating letters out of them. I made a hot pink "A" for my little girls birthday party.

    Love your blog!

    I posted pics of the wreaths and letter:

    babygooch.blogspot.com

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  12. Ok I just may have to try this one.

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  13. This is such a great idea! I'll have to try this. Thanks for the creative idea for a Christmas wreath!

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  14. This is definitely the easiest looking way to make one of these wreathes so I might have to do it! I've seen others that looked like kind of a pain, but not this one.

    Or you can just give me yours because the colors are perfect for my dining room. :P

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  15. What a great tutorial! I can't wait to try it! I do have a question though: how do you finish it? I was wondering about the tie-off process and can't figure it out. Thanks!

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  16. This project is awesome! One question... how do you close the wreath up once you have added all the balls on? In one of the pictures it looks like ribbon but I wanted to get your professional opinion :) Thanks, Nicki Mohr

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  17. I dont have a hot glue gun. will it work if I just super glue the ornament to the metal hook...
    srardin@gmail.com

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  18. I just finished my wreath, well, all of it except for the bow... still have to figure that one out. That was super easy to make with a beautiful result! Thank you so much for posting instructions!!

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  19. OMGosh this is the first time I've seen this. Thank you for the pictorial...I have a glue and a hanger and tomorrow I'm off to the Dollar store! LOVE IT!

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  20. I'm soo doing this. I can't wait to start.

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  21. It's awesome! Thanks for showing us how you did it. I think it's time for a dollar store run :)

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  22. I love these kind of wreaths! Also Im hooked on the dollar tree you should come link up at my party http://www.getouttamyheadplease.com/search/label/Show%20it%20Off%20Mondays

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  23. Beautiful wreath! Can you add how you finished it, fastened it together and added the ribbon hanger?

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  24. I was also looking to see how you closed or finished it off but I did not see any replies. I love snowmen ornaments and was thinking of making one of these wreaths with them. Love your blog.

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  25. How do you finish the wreath? do you twist the ends together? I'd love to try this project! T Wells

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  26. I just did this but like everyone else I am stuck on how to finish it off, please help.

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  27. Info on finishing the ends would be really helpful. Please advise. Thanks ;)

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  28. Just found this on Pinterest, can't wait to make one or five! Thanks for sharing and of course I repinned!

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  29. I too would like to know how to finish the wreath!

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  30. I'm like a lot of other commenters, I have NO IDEA how to finish it off!

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  31. I'm like a lot of other commenters, I have NO IDEA how to finish it off!

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  32. I'm like a lot of other commenters, I have NO IDEA how to finish it off!

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  33. This blog is great and you're a hilarious writer! Love it. Thank you x

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  34. Can you please tell us how to finish this? I'm looking to make one of these, and while I'd like to use your tutorial, you don't tell us how to finish it...

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  35. Every year my friends and I exchange homemade Christmas gifts...this will be my gift to them this year...don't think they'll care if it's early!!

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  36. I love this...I never would have thought it was so simple.

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  37. To finish it off, wrap the ends back together. I've heard that you can wrap the ends in a little bit of masking tape to secure it and then use your ribbon to hang it from that spot.

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    1. OK just saw this. Disregard my last post. Thanks.

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    2. I would wrap thin wire to bring together the ends of the hanger and the use the ribbon to hide it.

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    3. I would wrap thin wire to bring together the ends of the hanger and the use the ribbon to hide it.

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    4. thank you..I was wondering do I need pliers to end the wreath,,lol

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  38. Hey there! Just wanted to let you know we featuring you in our Favorite Find Fridays post today over at Whimsically Homemade. We're using one of your pictures and are linking back to you. If that's a problem let us know and we'll remove it immediately. Thanks for your great inspiration!

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  39. As they say, if you build a better mousetrap...and I think you've done that my friend. Way better than gluing to styrofoam....will have to try it.

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  40. Hi I was wondering how did you tie off the wire and add a line to hang it with. Thanks for the tutorial!

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  41. Just finished mine! So easy! Thanks!

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  42. Just finished mine! So easy! Thanks!

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  43. this tutorial was so great. I made two today on my sick day off from work (navigating wal-mart for ornaments while dizzy was quite the trip) but they turned out wonderful!!
    thanks you for this!!

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  44. So cute. I hope it's as easy as it looks and the tutorial says. Thanks!

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  45. This was so easy! Thank you so much for breaking it down into easy steps and I am especially thankful for the tip about using the hot glue gun first! It saved me a bunch of time. Thanks!

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  46. I just did this and it turned out great! $9 total for the whole project and my mother in law thought I spent at least $30 at a craft store!

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  47. I love this and can't wait to make ours this weekend with the girls!
    Thanks - Merry Christmas

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  48. Mine turned out beautiful BUT some of the balls I purchased had little wire hoops to hang them - they popped right off as I go to hang my wreath! So disappointed. Hope to fix it.
    I love it other than that. I did hot glue the cap to the ornament - shoud've let it run over the wire too.

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  49. So gorgeous!!!! I will try this too!!! thx for posting!

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  50. Are you popping the tops off the ornaments before you hot-glue them, or just hot-gluing along the edges of the tops?

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  51. Tried this ... came out super cute! Thanks.

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  52. Super cute!! Going to the dollar store tomorrow.

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  53. Too cute and too simple. Can't wait to try this out this year.

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  54. Great share, thanks. I bought a big bucket of ornaments at IKEA earlier this year when they were on sale 70% off and now I am inspired to go dig them out and make a wreath. The step by step was very helpful.

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  55. This is just what I was looking for. I can't wait to get started. Thank you for this. But how do you manage being a teacher and creating such a detailed web-site. I guess that's just your "Educator," shining through!!! Best Wishes...

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