DIY Christmas Doily Wreath

The more Christmasy it starts to look in my home the more I start to get that warm and fuzzy holiday feeling. Last night I finally made a successful batch of Fleur de Sel caramels (thank you amazing digital candy thermometer) and brainstormed a great gift for Nick so some of the stress is starting to lift.

I kept the Christmas decorating in our home pretty simple this year but I was able to find the time to squeeze in one crafty project. I got the idea for this wreath from Martha Stewart (of course) however, is it just me or are they step by step instructions on that website never 100% clear? Here are my quick and dirty instructions for how to make this lovely wreath.

Materials:

one 16" and one 12" wire wreath form (I scaled down Martha's 30" version)

24 gauge floral wire

2 strands of battery operated LED twinkle lights - 40 bulbs in total

low temp hot glue gun

white ribbon

doilylike paper bouquet holders known as "Biedermeiermanschetten" found at germanplaza.com, you will need the following sizes:

6.4" will need 3 - 5

4.8" will need 11

3.2" will need 22 - 24

Instructions:

-Attach the two wire forms at 8 points along the frames with the floral wire

-You may want to spray paint the frame white so that it doesn't show though the final product but I was lazy and skipped this step.

-Wrap the frame with the two strands of lights. Attach the battery packs for the lights to the back of the frame with floral wire.

-Begin arranging the paper bouquet holders around the frame, starting with the larger sizes first. Insert a light bulb into the center of each bouquet holder.

-Once all of the bouquet holders are arranged, I used small dots of hot glue to secure them to each other and to the frame. This was necessary because the lights I choose were mini and they fit loosely within the center of each doily. Even if you choose a strand of lights with a larger bulb I recommend this step to make it more secure.

-You'll notice that once every bulb has a doily attached to it you wreath will look a bit lopsided and there may be some gaps that need filling. Use any remaining 3.2" bouquet holder to fill in the gaps.

-Attach a piece of white ribbon to the top of the frame so that you can hang your lovely wreath.

I attempted to take a picture of the wreath at night when it was lit up but every photo came horrible. You can just trust me that it is really cute. I love how the doilies are arranged a bit random and haphazard though I'm sure Martha's was a perfectly arranged circle.

I just spotted this simple wreath on Sweet Paul that you could create using a simple wreath form and old family photos. If you want to use your originals photographs you can make photo copies on heavy weight paper and glue them to the frame.

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