VINTAGE CHRISTMAS WREATH

One of the things I love about this time of year are all the decorations...especially wreaths. I wanted a "vintage" wreath that would take me back to my childhood and rekindle the wonderful memories I have of Christmases past. This was a basic 18" wreath. I added pinecones from my white pine trees, Christmas greenery and various leaves. A few of the items were purchased but most of them, I made...which was the FUN part!

I love the old vintage postcards, so I took some of them and made ornaments out of them for my wreath. They were made from a plain paper mache base, then the post card, then I added some tinsel garland and stickles to make them "pop". I also love Tim Holtz' mini Christmas collage stamps. You can see that I multi-color stamped with them and mounted them on a gold sparkly cardstock rectangle. They really added to my vintage wreath.

What would any wreath be without a vintage copy of "The Night Before Christmas"? I used a small composition notebook and covered it with a "vintage" cover of "The Night Before Christmas" book. Then I made the first two pages of the inside of the composition notebook look like inside pages from that famous poem. 

Growing up, our tree always had Shiny Brite ornaments on it. I took an image of a Shiny Brite ornament box and sized it for my wreath. Then I made it into a real little box and added it to my wreath. Some of my favorite stories growing up were Frosty The Snowman and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. So, I made those little book covers and nestled them into the piney branches of my wreath. I added some Dollar Store gold bell garland, sprayed with a little Glossy Wood Tone to take a little of the shine off of them. They amazingly look "vintage". 

Last but not least, I wired in a sweet little victorian bear doll on to the side of my wreath. I added a string of lights for her to hold. As a child, I remember how those big multicolored Christmas bulbs on the front of our house would softly wash the ceiling and walls of my room at night as I was laying in bed. How I loved those big ol' light bulbs!

I made this wreath for myself but ended up giving it to a dear friend. It ended up being a class and we had so much fun making this wreath. We shared stories of our Christmases growing up as we worked. It was a really wonderful way to spend a day!

I hope looking this Christmas wreath has brought a smile to your face
and a memory of your own childhood Christmases! 
Happy Hannukkah, Happy Holidays to all!