DIY Christmas Bauble Wreath

With Christmas right around the corner, I really wanted to do something creative with my son to help us decorate the house. Now those who know me, know that I am far from the wealthiest woman in the world and a lot of things in my house (like dog beds, wall hangings, blankets, nappy liners etc) have been hand made by myself. I must admit I seem to have become quite good at doing these sorts of things myself. Slowly, I have even managed to generate an income through some of the things I make (using just a set of crochet hooks and some supplies from spotlight).

So what Christmas decoration could Kyran help out with, that didn't make a huge mess or cost a huge amount in supplies to do. Well I spotted this online and thought I would give it ago. Why if I am so crafty did I need to try it before writing about it? Answer: I understand that not all Mummys are crafty or have the "artistic" touch some think it takes to make things, I tried this idea bearing in mind that most people probably don't have an artistic bone in their body (that was like me for a very long time before I found that it was make or break).

I like have a house full of Christmas decorations, I like having a tree and having the time to decorate the house. Unfortunately, like most people my wallet does not like this time of year. So things like this really excite me!

Well get on with it. How do we make a bauble wreath? Here is a list of what you will need.

You will need:

* Baubles of varying shapes and colours (unbreakable preferable, cheapy ones from the $1 shop work a treat) - I didn't colour match mine, so I have reds, golds, blues, silvers, greens and pinks. Although a person who likes to colour match would think this a nightmare, I have to say despite the absurd variety of colours, my wreath looks spectacular.

* Various decorations for a tree - basically the little presents, tear drop baubles, hanging stars anything really to add dimension to your wreath. You only need a few so don't go too over board.

* Wire Coat hanger

* Ribbon

What to do:

1) Work your wire coat hanger so that it is a circular shape. It doesn't have to be perfect, anyone who has bent a wire coat hanger before will know just how tricky it is to get it perfect. So do the best you can, once the baubles are on though you really can't tell that its not perfectly round anyway.

2) Untwist the top of the coat hanger so you have 2 ends, one with the hook for hanging and one straight end (although it may look at bit more like a screw than straight, keep it that way you'll need it later).

3) Start threading your decorations in whatever order or pattern you like (mine was done at random) through the straighter side and push them right to the other end and allow them to collect tightly around each other.

4) When you have put on as many decorations as possible and it is all nicely packed tightly against each other (think bauble tetris), use the screw like shape on both sides of the hanger and re-twist the ends together.

5) The finishing touch is a ribbon tied around the twist to hide the wire and to add that lovely Christmas touch.

Voila. One cheap, easy Christmas wreath that the kids can make with you. Kyran sat down and chose the baubles to put on and helped me twist them onto the wire.

Comment your baubles and let me see what you came up with. We used some wonderful Disney baubles my mother-in-law bought for us as little hidden features as well.

Forever Yours

Anni