My Christmas Wreath

I stumbled on a beautiful wreath-of-sorts from Blue Cricket Design last week and knew I had to make my own version. As luck would have it, I had picked up 6 unfinished wood ornaments at Michael's for $0.50 each on Monday and hadn't quite decided what to do with them, beyond the obvious glitter-bath.

I had an old frame lying around from an earlier-this-year yard sale {among many yard sale frames I happen to have 'lying' around} and a quick coat or two of paint covered up most of the brilliant gold underneath.

Then I used a matte spray-on clear sealer (Krylon Matte Finish) to seal on the paint and the glitter on the ornaments.

THEN, this is where the true aha! moment came in, I remembered I bought wooden reindeer at JoAnn's or Michael's around Halloween for a mere dollar. A coat of paint, followed by a healthy dose of glitter later, and we have our very own silvered Santa's helper.



I adorned the besilvered 'deer with a tag and a sticker printed with BELIEVE, added a few rub-on flourishes, and a ribbon around the neck of the reindeer to secure the tag in place finishes it off. I've recently realized the supremacy of my hot glue gun. Nothing dries as quickly or holds as well or bonds as many mediums. I shrink in its awesomeness.
cost breakdown:
6 wooden ornaments: $3
wooden reindeer: $1
Ribbon: various on hand, cream bow was $2 in ribbon
paint: on hand
glitter: on hand, but I'd estimate about $5 in glitter {it's german glass glitter}
Krylon Sealer: on hand, but I think it was around $3
frame: $1
tag, rub-ons and sticker: free - given to me
total: $7-15, depending on what you have to buy {mine was $7}
Not too bad, right?

After an afternoon on the door, I've learned this: don't use paper on this project. My chipboard tag has curled from the winter chill and wetness. Tomorrow I'll have to remedy the situation. Not sure with what. Maybe I'll end up laminating it.

If you make/have made something similar, I want to see!