I should start off by saying that I am not a “Start Celebrating Christmas in October” advocate. I am way to OCD for that- I like having a designated spot for each different holiday. And when Christmas creeps into fall, my categories get all screwy. Plus, I love Thanksgiving. And I hate it when Christmas overshadows Thanksgiving because of date proximity.
However, in an effort to take the level of Frazzled down a notch around here, I’m trying to be more organized for this year’s Christmas (thanks for the inspiration, Alicia!). Which means making Christmas decor (and some of my handmade gifts) in November so that we can actually enjoy December (on that note, Burke and I are working on some super fun advent stuff! Can’t wait to share!).
All of that to say, My Twinkle Wreath is DONE! It doesn’t twinkle (those are replacement bulbs you see), but it is darn festive. And cheery. And oh-so-merry. Pretty much, we LOVE it (we being me, Piper Jane and Burke- haha!).
In case you’re trying to be more organized this year too, or just in case you need a wreath idea, I thought I’d share it here before Gifts for Guys gets started.
To make a non-twinkling Twinkle Wreath you’ll need:
-two sizes of replacement Christmas light bulbs (I bought these when Target had them on clearance last year, but they still have the same ones… I know because I had to go get a couple more packs. You might be able to use the bulbs from a non-working strand from your stash or a thrift store?). I used 28 of each size bulb.
-floral pins (from Hobby Lobby, I believe… they’re shaped like little prongs, so the name “pins” is a little misleading)
-hot glue (LOTS of hot glue)
-a wreath form
-yarn for wrapping the wreath
-thick ribbon (to make the hanger)
1. Wrap your wreath form in yarn.
2. Start attaching the large bulbs to the wreath form with floral pins. Make sure the pins really secure each bulb in place. Continue until your entire wreath is covered in one layer of big bulbs.
3. Hot glue the little bulbs in place on top of the the big bulbs. Two tips- 1. Be liberal with your hot glue. 2. Match up the little and big bulb colors (it looked too chaotic when I randomly placed the colors for the second layer- though, try it, you may like it).
4. Add a thick ribbon hanger and you’re finished!
5. Admire the festive, cheery, bright merry-ness! Having a wreath like this makes my red door happy, I’m pretty sure.
I even toted this gem of a wreath out in the snow, you know, to see how it matched up with the white fluffiness in the chance that we have a white Christmas this year. The verdict? White Christmas, bring it on. We’re ready for you.
