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Vintage Ornament Wreath

Posted by James on December 6, 2012
Posted in: Christmas, New Home, Projects. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 43 Comments

Some ideas for projects hit immediately.

And some ideas develop over time, and only get better.

This is one of those projects.

Over the years, I have accumulated a pretty “sizeable” collection of vintage ornaments. (without really a purpose for them)

Vintage Ornament Boxes

Here are a few of my favorites.

A few Favorite Vintage Ornaments

I also happened to have a chicken-wire wreath form from Michael’s.

I’ve seen hot-glued vintage ornament wreaths online, but never one this big. It’s almost 3 feet across. If I glued it all together I would never be able to store it…….or even move it without breaking several dozen.

No, I have to assemble/disassemble this thing yearly.

Wreath Form with Bowls of Vintage Ornaments

 The wreath form already had a little bit of grapevine twisted over it, but I added the thin silk garland and a “zig-zagged” string of B-lights (just for a warm glow).

Close-Up of Chicken Wire Wreath

I just started by hooking ornaments onto the chicken-wire wreath form…or the grapevine…or the lights…or even on that thin silk garland. Just as long as they are hooked into something. Beginning at the very bottom…..

Hooking the Ornaments into the Chicken Wire Wreath

….and slowly hooking my way up the sides to the top. Squeezing in as many as I possibly can.

Building te Ornaments Higher on the Wreath

Several hours later…..I have this amazingness.

Big Ornament Wreath

Collection of Vintage Ornaments

Side of TV Console with Big Ornament Wreath

Vintage Ornaments Hooked into Wreath Form

Close Up of Big Ornament Wreath

Top of Console with Ornament Wreath

Several hours…….

(That’s why I took so many pictures of it when I was finished)

I wasn’t started in this direction when I first began collecting vintage ornaments…..

…but I’m sure glad that this is where the collection ended.

The Big Ornament Wreath

Posted by James on November 27, 2011
Posted in: Christmas, New Home. Tagged: , , , . 4 Comments

About 20 years ago, I bought a small bag of vintage ornaments at a thrift store for about 4 dollars. They were hand painted Polish ornaments with poinsettias, and snowy log cabins. I was fascinated by how beautifully aged they were, the way the colors had speckled and faded to look almost like old metal. These first few really got the ball rolling with my old ornament obsession and every time I would see Polish, Czech, German, and even American Shiney Brites for a buck or 2 each…I’d buy them. I’m not just limited to November/December shopping either because I find them cheaper throughout the rest of the year…in junk shops, thrift stores, flea markets and even antique malls. So every year when I pull the tubs out of the attic, it’s Christmas all over again discovering all the new treasures that I had purchased and stashed through-out the year.

 I start with a 3 foot chicken wire wreath that I’ve wired over an old mirror. It’s wrapped with thin silk garland and about 100 b-lights (just for glow). I painstakingly hook each individual ornament into the chicken wire, starting at the bottom, until the whole thing is one giant packed ornament wreath…..Takes about a half a day.