Photo Credit: Pottery BarnBut this baby is selling for almost $80 right now, and I'm pretty sure it's not going on sale any time soon. So I decided to tackle my first DIY project in a really long time (and my first step-by-step tell all). Here's what I did (and I apologize in advance for the blurry, dark or otherwise terrible pictures)...
First I figured that I needed big, fluffy wreath. I had one I bought at Garden Ridge for $3 last year. It's a little skinny, so I bent each of the branches toward the outer edge of the circle. It turned out like this:
I found this smaller, slightly fatter wreath at Michael's for $2.
I nestled the smaller one into the middle of the larger one and wired the two together using green floral wire ($1.50 for a lot at Garden Ridge). Unfortunately I forgot to take an after picture. Trust me when I say the wreath looks much better already!Now the fun part! I found silver and red plastic ornaments (some shiny and some matte) from Garden Ridge for less than $15. Then I pulled out common tools of the DIY trade.
Using the scissors (or the pliers with a wire cutting edge), I cut several pices of the floral wire and threaded them through the tops of the ornaments. Actually, Hubby did this for me while I mulled over their placement on the wreath. He is very sweet and very helpful.
This part is where another common tool of the DIY trade comes in handy.
Occasionally the tops fell off the ornaments (I did say they were cheap!). Not to worry. Hot glue fixes anything!As Hubby threaded the ornaments with wire, I started putting them into the wreath fairly haphazardly. I simply shoved an ornament down into the branches and twisted the floral wire around the wire form that held the wreath together.
All told, the project was about $20 and an hour of time - a far cry from the $80 I would have had to spend at PB. And here's the final product.
Never being one to wait, I pulled out the very best hanging tools. Ribbon and my masking tape (a metal apartment door and lack of a wreath hanger means I have to improvise). I wrapped the ribbon around the wreath (Nester style) and promptly taped the ribbon ends to the top of the door. It doesn't look half bad...
And hopefully no one will look closely enough to notice the tape. :)

This post is linked to Kimba's DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land.

