Fall Ornament Wreath

I just love wreaths, and I’m especially fond of ornament wreaths.  You can get extra creative with different colors, sizes, textures, and even shapes (yes, shapes!) of the ornaments and fillers that you choose.  Plus, ornament wreaths can be knocked out in just a couple hours….horray for quick holiday decor projects!  I made a fall ornament wreath for our home a couple years ago and I just love how it adds a touch of autumn to our front door.

 

Supplies I used to make this fall ornament wreath:

• Grapevine wreath form
• Lots (and lots!) of ornaments
• Fake fall leaves
• Hot glue gun and several hot glue sticks
• Floral wire (optional to create a loop for hanging)

Process:

1. Clean up grapevine wreath by removing any excess leaves and branches.
2. Remove all the hanging tops from the ornaments.
3. Start hot gluing the ornaments on the wreath form, varying the colors, sizes, and textures as you go along.
4. Once wreath form is completely covered, fill in any gaps with fake fall leaves.
5. Add floral wire loop to the back, hang, and enjoy!

This fall ornament wreath is yet another PBP (pre-blog project) so I don’t have step-by-step pictures of how I created this.  I know, so sad.  I plan on creating a few more ornament wreaths in the near future, so I’ll update this post with a link to those tutorials once they’re up…..stay tuned!

 

The Ornaments

Anyway…..this was my very first ornament wreath that I ever made and it’s still one of my favorites.  I grabbed a large variety of ornaments from my local craft store when all the Christmas stuff went on sale for 40% off….different sizes (large & small), textures (shiny, matte, glittered, and hammered), and colors (orange, brown, and gold).  Since I wanted this wreath to last for years and not have to worry about any ornaments being broken along the way, I chose to use shatterproof ornaments when I could (the small bright orange ornaments are actually glass since I wasn’t able to find any of that size and color in the shatterproof variety).

Because most of them are not real glass, they have a seam running down the center where the two plastic sides conjoin.  This didn’t concern me too much since they’re pretty unnoticeable unless you’re right up next to it and giving it a good inspection (or taking close-up pictures for a blog post!), so I chose to sacrifice perfectly smooth ornaments for ones that would last longer.

 

The Grapevine Wreath Form

When making ornament wreaths, I find it’s easier to use a grapevine wreath form because:

1. They’re cheap.
2. They’re flat so you use fewer ornaments to cover the surface which saves you time and money (win win!)
3. They’re easy to attach the ornaments and especially the fillers to since they have little nooks and crannies.
4. I just think they look better when complete.  There, I said it.

I’ve made ornament wreaths using a green floral form as well as a white styrofoam form, and while they turned out very nice, they took FOREVER!  No, not really forever, but that’s what it felt like while I was elbow deep in them.  Thanks to its flatness, the grapevine makes it very easy to see what your final product will look like as you go along….you don’t need to step back as often or worry about what it will look like from the side views because it’s flat.

 

Adding The Ornaments

I find it’s easiest to cover a whole section of the wreath form at a time and then work my way out from both sides (I hope that makes sense…this is where pictures would come in handy!).  I add about three or so ornaments, then add some more to the right, then go back to the first group and add some more to its left.  Then I just make my way around.  I know some people like to cover the entire outer/inner rims, then fill in the center, but I feel like my method gives a more natural look.  The other way tends to look too manufactured to me.  Just a personal preference though.  Find a method that works for you and get gluing!

 

Adding The Leaves

After the entire surface is covered in ornaments, I just snipped off some fall leaves that I grabbed from the craft store’s floral department and glued them into any gaps by their stems.  That’s another beautiful thing about ornament wreaths….you don’t have to be too OCD about their placement because you’re going to fill in any gaps with your filler.  Plus, the leaves here give it more texture and dimension and scream “I’m a FALL wreath, in case you couldn’t tell! Yes, I have ornaments, but I’m all FALL, baby!”  I then chose to make a small loop with some floral wire and attached it to the back to hang the wreath.  You could simply just slide your door hanger through one of the grapevine branches if you’d like.

 

I love the way this fall wreath contrasts with our green front door.  The orange color and shiny texture of the ornaments really makes it pop.  I hope it warms up our home for others visiting or even those passing by out front.  Fall is my favorite season, and one more thing I love about it now is that I get to display this beauty.  Have any of you made any cute ornament wreaths?  If so, I’d love to see them!

 

Here are some other ornament wreaths I’ve made:

NFL ‘A House Divided’ Wreath

 

University of Kentucky Basketball Wreath

 

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