Ball Wreath

I paid a little visit to Big Lots yesterday. I have become inspired in my clean up and made the trip to get one of those large plastic storage tubs so that I can organize a bit better in my attic. Not only did I come out of Big Lots with the storage tub, I also scored on some 75% off Christmas decor. Big Lots is so great...one of those little places that few people think to go to for deals. Such was the case with the Christmas decor at the location I went to in Alabaster. There was still a large amount of decor still at the store. I purchased several rolls of wrapping paper for $1.00-$1.50 per roll. I loved the coordinating papers. I can just imagine how pretty the packages will look under my tree next Christmas!

I also picked up 2 boxes of different sized ball ornaments. After being inspired by both Eddie Ross (who came up with this project) and Rhoda (who tried her hand at it), I decided to try my hand at making one of those pretty ball wreaths. The box came with 48 assorted sized balls. I chose a box with turquoise, lilac, and silvers of different shades.Turquoise if my favorite color. It reminds me of the beach.

I used a box and a half on my wreath (about 80 balls). What I discovered with the plastic balls was that I preferred them to the glass balls for this particular project. I think that the plastic will be more "user friendly" if I decided to hang my wreath on a door. I know that my kids will often times run in or out the door and allow the door to slam shut. Glass balls would not make it long on our door, and in turn the kids. Oh, I kid....about the kids. They are safe. The wreath, however, would not be.

To make the wreath take a wire coat hanger, unhinge it.....

...and bend it into the form of a circle.

If you use glass balls, you will want to hot glue the tops of the ornament to the ball so it will be sealed and not come apart. By using the plastic balls it cut out the step of hot glueing the tops of the ornaments (on glass) that easily come out. The plastic were pretty secure, though if you wanted to glue as an extra precaution you could. I am a time saver. One less thing I have to do, the better. For more info on the glueing read Eddie Ross post.

Next, untwist the end of the hanger, then string one ornament at a time, making sure to alternate the placement and colors as desired. Use smaller sizes to fill in the gaps!

After stringing all the balls onto the wire hanger, secure the hanger by twisting back into place.

To secure it to the door, use the hook end of the hanger, together with a little wire. I think adding a ribbon would only set it off more! And that's it! You're done.

And you can see, this is idiot proof decor. See my wreath....there are some balls sticking out on the top, looking a bit mishapped. Well, just move them around into place. Take a few off and reorganize. You will get the look you are going for. See Rhoda and Eddie for better examples. But because one of my children helped me with this wreath....I thought it it turned out perfect with it's mishapped balls (I wasn't about to change it).

Life is like that.

Mishapped sometimes.

BTW- as I mentioned I had one of my children helping me with this project. This is a perfect project to get the kids involved in. Of course with the little ones I would worry about the hanger around eyes, but for more mature kids I think you could have an assembly line running to pump the wreaths out for the entire neighborhood.

You could do differnt forms, I would guess....an oval...maybe a heart for Valentine's (using small balls).

Or, with inspiration from the Nester, do some rick ragging by tieing small knots with pretty ribbon around the wire instead of balls. The possibilities are endless!
2 Boxes of Ball Ornaments from Big Lots (75% off) $4.00 for both

wire coat hanger-free

ribbon from Big Lots (75% off) .75 cents

Total $4.75 plus tax.