DIY: Vintage Ornament Wreath

I've been meaning to put together this Christmas ornament wreath for a while, ever since I plundered Daddy's attic last summer and found a bunch of vintage Shiny Brite ornaments.  I found one how-to that required a foam wreath to start it.

Of course, that's always a project killer of mine - having to actually go out to buy pieces and parts because the nearest craft store is in the next state over! Then just the other day, I found a solution to that little problem, and it just happened to bring my whole project to a grand total of $0!

I found a neat tutorial over at The Penny Parlor. Instead of using a foam wreath, she used a wire clothes hanger. This method also seemed like it would hold up better. I guess I just don't trust my trusty glue gun that much.

Anyhoo, I had a ton of ornaments from Daddy, and extra tinsel garland, so I was all set to start my project. But even if you don't have any of that, her project only set her back 9 bucks!

I slid all my ornaments onto the hanger first and didn't worry with gluing them.

When you pick your wreath up, the ornaments just kind of naturally bunch up. Though, I will warn you I had quite a few jump ship as I was attempting to attach the two ends of the hanger back together, but I only had one break.

After I liked the looks of it, I started gluing! I glued the ornaments to the ring, but also to each other so it was nice and secure. I then glued the beginning piece of tinsel garland down and wrapped it around, keeping the tinsel as close to the ring as I could. I thought that looked better, and glued it here and there.

I have quite a few Christmas wreaths decorating the house this year.  Plus, I think I would need to attach something to hang it with, and I am just too afraid that my heirloom ornaments would break. So, I just added some candles to the inside and made it into a centerpiece. Here's the finished product: