DIY Burlap Ornament Wreath

I’ve been a little obsessed with burlap this year. My husband practically has to barricade me when I see something covered in burlap, because I have to have it. Who can blame me? It’s rustic, simple, chic, and gives off such a cozy vibe. Seriously, I’m obsessed.

The last time we lived in this house I didn’t decorate it, because I knew we’d be leaving sooner rather than later; we barely had a few photos up, and I didn’t even bother with curtains. This time around, we’re planning on staying for awhile, so I want to make our home less stoic and more comfy—we even put curtains up the other day and pictures are hanging up everywhere!

For Christmas decorations, I decided to start with the fireplace.
After staring at it for far too long, I realized it needed a wreath just
above the mantle. My first stop was Etsy, because that’s where you go
when you’re lazy (like me) and just want handmade decor that you didn’t
actually have to hand make. I found several wreaths I liked, but after
looking at the price, my hopes and dreams for decorating our house
dropped.

I totally get that crafting is a serious business and it can be hard. I know so many people who have Etsy shops for a living and I respect them. But seriously? The amount some people charge is outrageous, and on top of the price, I’d have to pay for shipping! I found a few versions of what I liked and figured it couldn’t be that hard to make, so I set out to make it myself!

The result was exactly what I was looking for: the price was beyond cheap (around $10 total), I had pride in making it, AND it was ridiculously easy. No, it was embarrassingly easy. Granted, I made a simple wreath; there are some that are way more complex, but I’ll stick to simple things for now.

This is a quick tutorial for a burlap ornament wreath. For real; it’s so quick that you can make it during a nap time (even if it’s a short nap)! The best part is that you can interchange the burlap design and adornments to customize it for different holidays. (See my fall wreath here.)

What you need:

• An 18″ wreath—I used one made of straw (keep the wrapping on it for less mess), because it was half off ($2.50), but a Styrofoam wreath would work fine, too.  
• 30 feet of burlap. At Hobby Lobby they sell them already cut into strips. For this particular project I got two, 15-foot rolls. If you want just “regular” burlap, they have a 30-foot roll.
• Hot glue gun
• Ornaments (bought mine from the $1 section at Target and used some leftover from our tree)
• Twine and nails (for hanging)

How to make it:

Take the burlap, pick a spot to start, and glue down the beginning edge to the wreath. Start wrapping it tightly around, leaving about a one-inch overlap, but not less. Thirty feet will exactly fit this wreath; you may need to even space it out a little towards the end. Just wrap all the way around. When you’re finished, glue the end piece down.

For the ornaments, I found it easier to take the little metal piece off the end.Then I just started gluing them down and hoped it would look good! I liked having different sized and textured ornaments; I think it gave the wreath a little more dimension.

Hanging this was a little trickier than my fall wreath since this had extra weight on one side. Take two nails and stick them about an inch apart from each other, then wrap and knot twine around the nails.

And you’re done! Place it up on the wall, step back, and admire your work 🙂