How to Make your own ornament ball wreath for the front door or as a holiday table centerpiece12/28/2013 A wreath on the front door makes a great first impression You can make a wreath for every season or a wreath can become a centerpiece as a festive decoration Below is a tutorial on how to make your own wreath for ourselves or to give away as gifts that can be personlized which are always the best gifts, in my opinion! Starting with a white hanger or piece of wire, shape it into a circle the size that you desire You can purchase wire from the hardware store suggestion: use 14 or 18 guage wire (depending on how much ''bendability'' you prefer to work with) Depending on the size of the wreath - cut the wire accordingly The white hanger is great though as it is the right size (as well as already having a "hook" if you wish to hang it from the wall or door) Gather your ornaments and place an egg container (an egg container will hold the balls while gluing so they don't roll away and they are held into position with the stem/cap up) Add hot glue on the tops of each ball to ensure the tops will stay on when they are attached to the wire (reinforcing the stem/cap attachment to the ball) You'll need lots of glue sticks for this project! You may use bead garland or the fluffy garland or a pretty ribbon as embellishment this is where you can get really creative! For visual interest, use different sized balls You can either attach them directly to the wire by threading them (using the stem/cap of the ball) or you can glue them to those that you have already attached to the wire directly to fill in the gaps between balls (note: the balls shown in the photo above are without the stem/cap) Place the ball onto the wire through the hole in the stem/cap Pictured above, the larger balls are spaced out When the wire is full of balls, you will need to make a hook at the back Use the hook part of the hanger and push the two ends together to create a circle or "hook" then wrap and overlap each end around a bit and glue into place You do not need a big hook if you are attaching to a nail on the wall or to a hook on your door or no hook at all if you are creating a centerpiece Ensure that you hide the hook so that it does not protrude past the balls at the top of the wreath Add garland on top of it to further hide it After you have all the balls on the wire and have them spaced out (alternating on the sides of the wire) you can add small balls in between to fill in the gaps Check the fit and placement of each ball before gluing! You can pull them apart after gluing but the glue spot may take some of the paint off the ball Place the glue where the balls are meeting in the gaps i.e. "drop" the glue in the space and push the balls together Hold in place after you glue for a few minutes to ensure adhesion before moving on to the next ball Use as much glue as you can without it showing If you can see the glue, use some garland or another ball to hide it After completion, handle the wreaths carefully as they are somewhat fragile They are durable enough to go on the front door or use as a centerpiece Also, when gifting - wrap them carefully! In the photo above, after securing the balls use the glittery garland behind the wreath to hide the wire (optional) Use a small stick to push the garland from the back to the front in between the cracks so you just see a little garland protruding to the front of the wreath Additionally, another option is to use the beaded garland cut into lengths of approx. 8-10 beads Place these loops in between the balls to fill the gaps You can also weave the garland in and around the balls securing with a dot of glue as you wrap around Tips and Tricks To add the garland loops - "drop" the glue in between the balls and using a stick, push the bead garland loops into the gap Buy an ornament kit in a package including balls, stars, cones and garland (local tire store sells them for $10) Not only is it inexpensive but they are already matched Turn your project around like a steering wheel as you add more items so you can check 'symmetry' The more you practice making them, the quicker you will be approximately 1 wreath in 2 hours Place a plastic sheet or cardboard under your craft station to avoid glue from adhering to the work surface beneath it Ornament ball style wreaths can be made in other colours For example, red and pink for valentines day or all pink for the wall of a girls room (including their name with wooden letters from the craft store) Lots of ideas on the internet Photo above is an example of a garland bead loop Photos of wreaths The wreath in the photo above is made from an ornament ball kit that included stars and glittery snowflakes TIP: while you are gluing, always hold the wreath up and turn it around (like a steering wheel) to look at the overall shape of ball placement to ensure that it is staying rounded and evenly spaced Freely add more balls to create symmetry and fill gaps For the wreath in the photo above, I borrowed some green balls from the brown ornament ball kit to add an additional pop of colour and weaved the garland around the balls and around the outer edge of the wreath A wreath can be used as a centerpiece I enjoy giving these wreaths away as gifts
They are unique and can be colour matched to the recipients tastes or decor! It's amazing what you can make with a glue gun and your imagination! Be creative and enjoy!
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