Buried in holiday decor!

It's been a crafty holiday already around this place.   What...with following 135 different blogs via my handy Google Reader (which I LOVE) how can I not have a dozen projects that I want to do (or copy from someone else).  I saw this wreath

EVERYWHERE in blogland back in November, clearly the must make item for the holiday season.  As far as I can gather, it originates with here, with Eddie Ross.  Someone with whom I was not familiar with as of a week ago.  Visit his site and you will know why I wish we could be neighbors and we could do crafts together while sipping mimosas...but really...I must give credit here  because this is where I first found the wreath 

When I saw it, I knew I had to make it because the ones at Pottery Barn are like $60 dollars and knowing my luck, will break in a year.  So...I headed to the dollar store.  And like a mad woman who has lost her glue gun I went CRAZY. I don't have a picture that shows you just how many containers of plastic ornaments that I bought, but it was a lot.  At one point a woman walked by while I was sitting on the floor mapping out my wreath (i was originally going to make just one...) and she gave me that *sigh* like "you are crazy to be sitting on the floor at the Dollar Store let alone buying every single silver ornament".  But then...I went back!  Back!  on get this...Thanksgiving Day.  I thought Rob was going to die.  Here I had him take me to the Dollar Store before the blessed turkey dinner.  Oh the irony!  and then...I went back again, again, and again.  5 times.  I think it could actually be six times, but I can only find 5 receipts and so I just say 5.  At this point in my life, I am literally having to find routes AROUND the Dollar Store so that I don't get sucked in looking for more ornaments.  and lets just say, even at $1, you can still spend a lot of money at the Dollar Store!  (i have the receipts to prove it!)

So how did this all go down...  Like Chris from 'Just a Girl' I started with a color scheme.  I too wanted to purple, blue, green, silver color combination.  In total, I used 75 ornaments on one wreath.  It doesn't seem like that many until you really start counting.  Good news is that equals roughly $8 in Dollar Store language (yee-haw!).  The break down was as follows:

• 2, 15 count small silver ornaments
• 8, 5 count larger ornaments in a variety of colors
• 2, 12 count packs of glittery ornaments
• 2, 7 count packs of silver ornaments 
  

I also had to find a wire hanger from a friend and I bought a $1 spool of ribbon - guess where from???  

Then, I unwrapped all of the containers and had all of the ornaments in front of me.  It looked something like this:

Then, I hot glued every single top to the ornament.  Every single one. When they dried, i cut the string off (the string was helpful in getting the top off which is why I left it on until the glue was dry).

Then, I fought with a wire hanger for an hour trying to get it into a circle.  This is an important step that under normal circumstances, I would have skipped because I lack all patience.  BUT.  I wanted a circle and I was willing to fight for it.  I would recommend that you really position the top well so that you can easily un-hook and hook the two ends together.  

Then you just start threading the ornaments onto the hanger.  I found that it went best with a 3 large, 5 small rotation.  You want it tight, but not too tight.  Remember that these ornaments are from the dollar store (funny story, on one of my many trips to the dollar store i picked up the ugliest christmas decoration i have ever seen and said out loud, but to myself, 'that is the ugliest thing i have ever seen'.  Well, I said it loud enough for someone to hear to which they responded...'you are in the dollar store..."  True.  Take care when stringing plastic balls...they break!)  As you work your way around, just keep fitting the pieces together like a puzzle.  Somehow it ends up working itself out.  

The hardest part of the whole process is joining the two ends.  Because it's tight, the ornaments pop off when the plastic part snaps.  It's terribly frustrating because you are convinced that your perfect pattern will be ruined.  Rest assured it won't.  I made 6 of these things thus far and you can not tell that plastic balls popped off.  

Last step, string some ribbon, I used an entire roll from D.S. of wire ribbon to string each of my wreaths.  I like the hanging look in front of the windows so a lot of ribbon worked.  You could shorten it up too.  

Here is the finished product...or at least one of them.  

There are 3 up in the windows now and one on the door.  But it's late and my camera doesn't like night time so I will wait for a better picture tomorrow.  I also made one for my mother, have another sitting on the table looking for a new home and enough balls glued to make another.  

I love them.  and because of that, I think you should all run out and try the project yourself.  I do however recommend that you stay away from the Dollar Store near Cedar Hills because I have cleaned that place out.  No silver balls to be found-not that I'd know...