Every year when I decorate the tree I am sweetly taken back to memories of the past. So this year I decided to cherish those memories in ornament form by making Super Easy Memory Wreath Christmas Ornaments. The project was very simple and quick. Plus… You can make them using any color or decorations so that they match your Christmas decor.
I happen to have turquoise, blue, green, silver and white decorations for my home so I made my wreaths to match the turquoise and white. It is really up to you on how you want them to look.
I happened to use the wreaths that I made in the Making Wreaths With Willow Branches tutorial. By making my own wreaths I could make them in the perfect sizes for my tree.
Supplies:
Small Wreaths (Purchase or Make your own by following my Making Wreaths With Willow Branches tutorial).
Spray Paint and/or Spray Glitter if you want
Ribbons and Decorations (Of your own choice)
Small Pictures (You will need duplicates if you want to make the wreaths double-sided)
String for Hanging
Hot Glue Gun
Self-Stick Laminating Sheets or a Laminating Machine (If you want to preserve your pictures well)
Step 1:
The first thing is to prep your wreaths. You can spray paint them, add glitter, or just wrap with mini pine branches. You can further decorate your wreaths in a later step. If you spray them you can continue on with the other steps while they are drying. (I found the branches in the picture at Michael’s)
Step 2:
While the wreaths are drying (if you chose to spray them like I did) you can get your pictures ready. I made copies of my pictures with my printer onto card stock just to give them some stability. Cut them out in whatever shape you desire but just make sure that they will hang freely inside your wreaths.
Glue the duplicate pictures together. I found that holding the pictures up to the light so I could see the image through the card stock was very helpful in order to get both sides lined up evenly.
*** After gluing my pictures I chose to laminate them just to keep them shiny and protected.
Step 3:
Once the pictures are glued and laminated together simply poke a hole through the top using a small nail or large needle. Attach a piece of string long enough to wrap around the top of the wreath and to hang from the tree. (See below for length)
Step 4:
Now that the pictures are ready and the wreaths have dried the decorating begins!
You can wrap your wreaths in ribbons, leave plain, or add fake pine to give it a fresh look. I simply hot glued the beginning and ending of the ribbon in place.
Step 5:
Before adding too much more decoration add in your picture. Simply tie a knot around the wreath where your ribbon starts and stops, hot glue in place, and then tie another knot at the top of your string to hang your wreath on your tree.
*** Make sure you leave enough room so that your picture will hang freely in the center of your wreath. As you can see… I made mine a little tighter than I would have liked to.
Step 6:
Finish decorating your wreath! I added bows to the top of both sides of my wreath so they are reversible and can hang on the tree in any direction.
You can add small beads to look like ornaments on your wreath, or add any decoration you chose. I left mine super simple because I wanted the pictures to really stand out.
There you go… look at all the beautiful memories you have captured!
They really do look wonderful no matter the decorations you add!
If you have any questions or would like to share your version of this project please do so by commenting below.
Wouldn’t this make a great project to do with the whole family each year?!?!?! Each person could choose which memory they want to add to the tree for that year. Oh what fun that would be!! Make sure to share this post with your friends and family so you could start your own Memory Wreath Ornament annual event.