diy / festive mini wreath ornaments

Last month I hit Austin’s Feliz Sale for some preemptive holiday shopping. From fabulous jewelry to home decor, it’s safe to say I was more than a little successful. The ornaments from Paloma’s Nest were among some of my favorite finds of the day. I ultimately took this one home to add to my tree, but couldn’t help but be drawn to their super cute mini wreath ornaments as well.

Inspired, I decided to do a little homework and try my hand at making my own. Fortunately, this DIY turned out to be as fun as it was easy! Whether for your own tree or as a last minute gift, this project is a great one for the coming holiday weekend.

Instructions after the jump 

Festive Mini Wreath Ornaments
Adapted from Smile Like You Mean It

supplies:

• 3 ½” foam wreath base
• yarn
• glue gun / glue sticks
• ribbon

optional:

• plastic toys
• bells
• mini pom poms
• plastic garland/florals
• glitter

I was able to pick up everything I needed {and then some} at Hobby Lobby. Going into the project I knew I wanted to focus on decorating the wreath. The tutorial I had found recommended using shower rings as a base to build the wreath, but I opted for foam bases instead that were slightly larger and would give me more surface to decorate. I also decided to opt for white yarn to serve as a base for my design.

When it came to the decor elements, it all came together at the store. The big win was a pack of “Arctic” plastic toys that I found in the model building section. I also picked up a variety of colorful ribbon and trim, a pack of mini pom poms, and bells, and on my way out I found some sparkly holiday greenery on sale in the floral section that seemed like a good scale for the wreaths as well.

As I got started, I found that the added bonus of using the styrofoam wreath base was that the yarn stuck to it without needing any glue. I ended up wrapping the base twice to just to make sure it was totally covered and simply tied a discrete knot on the back of the wreath when I got to the end {which I later glued my ribbon hanger to}.

Decorating was a blast. I started each wreath by gluing a plastic figure to the center and then built out from there. I tried something a little different on each one and played with arranging the various ribbons, trims, and greenery. I discovered that the glue gun wasn’t particularly forgiving on the yarn, so once I stuck something down I had to just go with it {which turned out to be rather liberating since I couldn’t over-think my design}.

To finish, I thread a piece of ribbon {about 12″ long} through the middle of the wreath, used a dab of glue on the top of the wreath to hold the ribbon in place, and then tied a knot at the end of the ribbon.

All in all, the project turned out to be easy, fun, and definitely got me into the holiday spirit.

Happy holiday crafting!