How to Make an Easy DIY Christmas Ornament Wreath
This easy DIY Christmas ornament wreath comes together quickly and will look great on your front door this holiday season!
I’ve wanted to make an ornament wreath forever! I think these wreaths turn out so gorgeous, and the best part is they’re super easy to make!
I specifically shopped after-Christmas sales and snagged boxes of shatterproof ornaments for less than a few dollars per box, making this a surprisingly inexpensive addition to my Christmas decorations.
There are multiple ways to make ornament wreaths, depending on the type of wreath base you use. This post covers how to use a styrofoam wreath form, though the process is very similar for other forms. You can also check out this post if you’re using a wire wreath form or this post if you’re using an evergreen wreath form.
I can’t wait for you to try this out! You’re going to be wowed by your own crafting skills when you see how effortless your pretty wreath turns out to be!
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What you need to make an ornament wreath
- Christmas ornaments in various sizes (and in whatever color scheme you choose!): I used ball ornaments for the most uniform look, but other ornaments work for this type of wreath as well. My only requirement would be that you use shatterproof ornaments! (And also, if you can avoid glitter ornaments, do. My kitchen table and floors are crying from the glitter bomb I left after this project…)
- styrofoam wreath form: I think styrofoam gives a nice, rounded shape to ornament wreaths. I used a 15.5 inch wreath form, which resulted in the final wreath being about 21 inches wide.
- ribbon or a tinsel garland to wrap your wreath form: I majorly regretted not wrapping my wreath form with a tinsel garland prior to gluing ornaments on. Even ribbon would’ve helped disguise the gaps. Instead, I had to be a little more creative in how I filled in gaps. If you don’t want to wrap your wreath form, I recommend at least making sure it matches your ornaments (if you’re using a lot of white ornaments, for instance, the white wreath form isn’t nearly as noticeable).
- floral wreath picks, faux greenery, or other embellishments (optional – to help fill in gaps)
- hot glue gun and lots of glue refills
- ribbon for a wreath hanger: I used 1.5″ wired ribbon from Hobby Lobby
- scratch paper to cover your table and protect it from hot glue drips (a drop cloth or tablecloth is also highly recommended if using glitter ornaments!)
Where is the best place to buy Christmas ornaments?
I found my large- and medium-sized ball ornaments at Hobby Lobby.
I actually purchased them last year (or I guess in January) when Christmas decor was clearanced to 90% off. I followed some Facebook posts online to find out exactly when Hobby Lobby was going to switch over to the 90% off –I think I even went into the store a couple times to check and tried asking employees. Anyway, somehow I found out it was going to be on January 2nd (2025) and made sure I was there at least 30 minutes before opening that morning. I was about 7th in line, and let me tell you…it was awesome to be one of the lucky ones to have a cart! It was a mad house but SO worth it for the incredible deals! I filled up a cart and thought, “Oh, this is still going to be a lot” and was amazed when the cashier told me my total was only $40 (with a 2-foot long receipt!).
Just to emphasize how much I saved: a box of large ornaments was normally priced at $19.98, so this came out to $2.00. A box of medium-sized ornaments was $15.98 normally, so this came out to $1.60. So, I paid $3.60 for all the ornaments on this wreath! (And I still have half a box leftover.)
(I also snagged a Christmas tree for $16, which is what most people run to first thing. That, and large signs/the more expensive decor. Ahh, I still get giddy thinking about this sale day! 😊 It was so much fun!)
Okay, so obviously I highly recommend shopping post-Christmas sales when you can. But if you’re buying ornaments at other times of the year, just try to catch them on sale (Hobby Lobby Christmas goes on a 50% sale sometime during September/October, and it’s still a decent price). Box ornaments give you the best value (as opposed to individually buying them). You can also look on Facebook Marketplace for used ornaments or use up your own old ones – you can even make a gorgeous ornament wreath with vintage Christmas ornaments if you have some!
I needed smaller balls to fill in gaps so I found some mini ornaments at Dollar Tree (yes, they’re cheap quality, but you really don’t notice when your wreath is completed). Hobby Lobby also carries super-mini ones, too (these are the silver ones in my winter ornament wreath HERE).
Should you use hot glue or floral wire to attach ornaments?
This is a great question, and I’m sure everyone has their opinions. I think the best way to make an ornament wreath is with hot glue, simply because of how easy it is to use. I feel like you also have more control over the positioning of ornaments.
Floral wire may be sturdier in the long run, but chances are, you might need to use hot glue in places anyway (like to make sure the tops of the ornaments are attached securely to the balls).
The downside to hot glue is that it can be messier to work with (though, in my final wreath, you can’t see any of my excess glue). The other concern you may have with hot glue is how well it’s going to hold up in extreme temperatures – there is the potential it can pop off the smooth surface of the ornaments over time. I haven’t had any issues with that so far, though, and my wreath feels quite secure at the moment. I’ll let you know if that changes!
How to make a DIY ornament wreath
Before doing anything, make sure your work surface is covered in scratch paper because you will have hot glue drips! (Ideally, I’d use a large silicone mat that hot glue doesn’t stick to, but if the hot glue tears a little paper with it, it’s not a big deal since it’ll be on the back of the wreath.)
Make a wreath hanger
Cut about two feet of ribbon and wrap around your wreath form and tie a knot. Slide the knot to the back of the wreath form. Then, out of the large leftover loop, knot it around itself, pushing the knot close to the wreath form. Hot glue the tail at the back of the wreath form so it lays flat (I tucked my ends under and then glued it down).
Flip your wreath form back to the front.
Glue large ornaments to the outer ring
Start hot-gluing big ornaments around the outside of the wreath form, pointing the tops down to hide them. I started close to the wreath hanger. As you glue neighboring ornaments on, add hot glue in between them as well.
So, for each ornament, I put a glob of hot glue in the middle on the side (where it would touch its neighbor) and another dot of glue on the wreath form (where the top of the ornament would touch). Hold the ornaments together for a few moments to allow the hot glue to cool slightly before moving on.
My large ornaments fit perfectly around my wreath form in a mostly-perfect pattern (though a pattern isn’t necessary). If you’re worried how your ornaments will fit and whether you’ll be left with an obvious gap at the end, you can position your ornaments around the outside of the wreath form first to get an idea before gluing anything down.
When you’re gluing ornaments around the wreath hanger, you can push it under the wreath form to keep hot glue from dripping onto it.
Here’s what the wreath will look like when you’re done with this outer ring:
Glue ornaments to the inner ring
In the same manner, glue ornaments to the inner ring of the wreath form. You can use large- or medium-sized ornaments for this.
I didn’t quite have enough space for all of them to fit flat, so I glued a few on one side, then switched to the opposite side to glue a few there. Then the last two ornaments in between these sections had to be glued slightly higher (I just didn’t want only one high spot on one side, so I was trying to spread it out, if that makes sense).
Fill in with medium-sized ornaments
Now, start filling in the middle of the wreath with medium-sized ornaments. This is a really imperfect process since round spheres are just not going to fit perfectly here (I know, so annoying). But I think it helps to glue ornaments in one spot first, doing your best to keep them close together. Add hot glue anywhere two ornaments meet (sometimes it’s hard to gauge where they’ll sit, so just do your best).
If you get too much hot glue on an ornament or the glue doesn’t get covered like you thought, resist the urge to wipe at the glue when it’s hot – it will just smear and turn white and look messy. My excess glue spots that I allowed to cool all the way stayed clear and aren’t nearly as noticeable.
Fill in gaps with small ornaments and/or filler
At this point, I was really wishing I just had a tinsel garland peaking through my wreath and naturally filling out the gaps.
Instead, I hot glued a few more smaller ornaments in to hide the largest gaps (again, these are from the dollar store).
And then I found a Christmas greenery pick at Hobby Lobby that I cut into little pieces to tuck into the rest of the gaps. Since the pieces had small stems, I was able to stab them directly into the styrofoam wreath form without needing to hot glue them (these pine-type wreath picks tend to melt with hot glue anyway).
So, try to cut each piece as low as you can before the next pine section so you’re left with as long a stem as possible. (Or, if you’re using a different type of wreath pick filler, aim for ones with stems you can stick right into the styrofoam.)
And you’re all done! How easy is that?! I can’t wait to recreate this in different color schemes. You could even make an ornament wreath for other holidays!
You can see my other ornament wreath variations here:
Evergreen Ornament Wreath With Bow
Christmas Ornament Wreath DIY
I hope you have so much fun making this DIY Christmas wreath! It’s so simple, but you wouldn’t think so from how professional and gorgeous it looks when complete.
Let me know in the comments if you try making your own Christmas wreath with ornaments!
Don’t forget to pin and save for later!
