Wrapped Up in a Wreath

Perhaps like a lot of people, my husband and I don't put up a Christmas tree for the holidays.  There's many reasons for this:  we don't have children, we often travel over the holidays, etc.  Despite all that, I do love Christmas tree ornaments, and have made and collected some much-loved decorations over the years.

So this year, I decided to buy an artificial wreath for over our fireplace, and decorate it in lieu of a tree.  All of the decorations are handmade, but come from a few sources:

Some are made by me from recycled greeting cards (tutorial here)!

Some are made of polymer clay and decorated with various stamps (super easy - check out my tutorial)!

Some I received in my knitting group's annual ornament exchange!

I love them all, and found that this burlap ribbon (with just a hint of gold running through it) did a nice job of tying together my shiny, glittery ornaments with my clay and fiber-made decorations.  One note:  I found that just hanging the ornaments on the wreath looked a little weird.  All I could see were the hangers and it distracted from the decorations.  So instead I removed the hanging loops and wired the ornaments in place, securing them to the frame of the wreath. 

I still need to do some re-arranging with the decorations, but I'm really happy with the overall results.  I think it's a great alternative if you don't have a tree.