The first piece of advice if you’re planning to make a Christmas ornament wreath: Study other wreaths for tips, tricks, and ideas that will help you put your stash of ornaments together beautifully. To help get you started, I went through my archives for all the wreaths featured made by Georgia Peachez — our wreath-making guru going back to 2009 — and from Kate and my 12 years of wreath-making.
As you pull together the instructions and everything you need to make a DIY Christmas ornament wreath outlined in our famous tutorial, consider the possibilities showcased in this online “wreath exhibition” and how each wreath comes together. We have:
- Pastel wreaths
- Red, green, and silver wreaths
- Gold wreaths
- Silver wreath
- Pink wreaths
- Blue and silver wreath
- Multi-color wreaths
- Candy cane red and white wreath
- Christmas light wreath
- a Rectangle wreath
- 12″ wreaths
- 14″ wreaths
- a 16″ wreath
- a Christmas corsage wreath
- E-Z wreaths
- … and a fashion extravaganza of knee-hugger elves!
14 Christmas ornament wreaths by Georgia Peachez:
Suzy (Georgia Peachez) says she tends to use multiple colors — as she does here — but note she keeps them all in the pastel family for cohesiveness. In our tutorial, Suzy explains that she does not ring the donut hole of the wreath with ornaments, because she likes to be able to work her decorative ornaments into that center area. Note how she does that in various of her wreaths. “Merry Christmas” ornaments and other scripted ornies make for good focus points. Good to collect! Tucking cuties between the gaps. Love the spray! Another Suzy specialty — these vintage Christmas tree bulbs are wired on to a wreath base — no glued — I believe. From her personal collection. From Georgia Peachez’ personal collection. For a couple of years running, I gave away a wreath each year. Alas, no longer.(giveaway over) I usually asked, can we have a knee-hugger elf?, because they are such crowd pleasers. ( giveaway over) ( giveaway over) ( giveaway over) ( giveaway over) ( giveaway over) From Georgia Peachez’ personal collection.
About Georgia Peachez’ wreaths: I first discovered vintage Christmas ornament wreaths via Georgia Peachez, aka Suzy, in 2009 and have been super into ornament wreaths ever since. We soon asked Suzy for her instructions, which she graciously provided. Then, as I made more wreaths each year, we expanded into a larger, more detailed tutorial and even a video. Georgia Peachez has always been #1 in my book for ideas and inspiration how to design a well-composed wreath. This is 3-D art! I have 14 of Suzy’s wreaths in my archives. Note, I believe most of these are on 12″ wreath forms. Thank you, Suzy, for sharing your art with us!
Video: How to make a Christmas ornament wreath:
Wreaths made by Kate and me
After one meh wreath-making session with vintage ornaments, I made two ornament wreaths from new ornaments as practice. I took my time to think through the placement of each ornament. Second wreath from new ornaments as practice. Me: I go really slow when I make these — with the intention to enjoy the process, not rush through it as if it’s another obligation. Kate’s pink wreath with Santa. She was an Art Major so she was a wiz at this right from the start. A red and gold wreath from Kate with Santa. Another wreath by Kate. As you can see, she went monochrome with these wreaths. From here onward, the wreaths were made by me. I use lots of vintage ornaments — I work hard all year to collect them at estate sales. I made this for my daughter as a forever heirloom. Peppermint candy cane colored wreath! I came up with the idea to stuff bits of tinsel into gaps for effect. Be judicious. My 2019 wreath has more bling on it than ever before. I lost count at 140 ornaments, including all the many tiny vintage bulbs. Can you spot the Christmas pin? Gold wreaths do well with pops of green thrown in. My “antique, tarnished” theme wreath. Vintage Christmas corsage tucked in here. Instant base for a focus area. My silver wreath “before” it fell. I did not have the hanging wire secured properly! My silver wreath “After” – broken ornaments carefully replaced. People…….. people who need pine cone people…….. are the luckkkkkiest people .. in the world When you’re working to have focal points at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock you must take great care to have everything hang level. I hang the wreath as I go to check. And even then, I’m not always successful – that star with the bells is a bit lopsided. Oh well. Homemade = goodness.
Wreaths from Kate and me: Starting around 2010, I started making one or two wreaths each year. In the beginning, I made two wreaths from new ornaments to practice building my skills before committing my precious vintage ornaments to the kiss of the glue gun. Over the years, I’ve made 18 wreaths. All but a few went to friends and family as gifts. In addition, when Kate came on board as managing editor, she made several wreaths — and a video. In all, here are another 21 wreaths — my wreaths are all on 14″ wreath form bases, I think Kate’s are on 12″ forms.
16″ wreath
A few years ago, I set myself a new challenge — to make a 16″ wreath. Every time you dial up 2 inches on your wreath form size, you need a lot more ornaments. Like… 20% more or something. It’s math, but don’t ask me. Anyway, this wreath decided it wanted to be about ‘toys’. I usually have a running theme on each wreath, the theme reveals itself as I get going. I also try to use lots of different materials for the weebits, but not to repeat any single material too much.
April’s wreath made from vintage Christmas Corsages
When April shared the wreath she’d made from 10 vintage Christmas corsages, she Blew My Mind. I definitely want to make one at some point, but I am waiting for a stash of corsages to be delivered unto me at an estate sale. Looking closely at April’s work, I see a few small regular ornaments and weebits worked in too. In any case: BRILLIANT — absolutely BRILLIANT, April!
Easy ornament wreaths:
Meanwhile, if you can’t imagine making an entire ornament wreath … or have only a few pretties that you want to spotlight … or you’re running out of time … or you want to do a quicker crafting session with friends … I also came up with this idea for Easy Ornament Wreaths in 6 Basic Steps. Same basic techniques, just far fewer ornaments. And pretty darned pretty, if I say so myself!
How fun to look back at all these years of wreath-making! Good luck with yours!!!