Christmas Wreaths: Easy Homemade Decor on a Budget

With a little imagination anyone can easily create their own homemade Christmas wreath from scrap craft items or yard sale bargains. Here are three cheap and easy homemade Christmas wreaths that look festive and delightful. Best of all they are easy enough that the kids can join in and make a wreath of their own.

M&M Christmas Wreath

Supplies Needed - 1 black Magic Marker, 2 bags of green holiday M&Ms, 1 bag of red holiday M&Ms, 1 flat 12 inch styrofoam wreath ring, A can of spray adhesive, A can of polyurethane gloss sealer. A small piece of yarn or wire for hanging.

Instructions - Using the black magic marker, draw a bow with tails at the top of your Styrofoam Christmas wreath. This area will be filled in with the red holiday M&Ms.

Spray a small square area on the front of the Styrofoam Christmas wreath with spray adhesive. Be careful to only spray a small area. This adhesive dries rather quickly so spraying more than a small area will waste the adhesive.

Place the green M&Ms on to the sprayed area.

Repeat this process until the bow area is filled in with red and the rest of the wreath is green. Sprinkle a few red M&Ms here and there to break up the monotony and add some festive spice. Once you have all the M&Ms mounted on the Styrofoam, allow the wreath to sit overnight.

The next day coat the entire wreath with the polyurethane gloss spray. Give the wreath at least a minimum of two coats of polyurethane sealer.

Mini CD wreaths

Supplies Needed - These little beauties are fantastic for Christmas party favors or gift exchanges because for about $30 you can make 50 of them.

1 CD (or you can purchase a pack of 50 CDs at Big Lots for $10)

Scrap ribbon, pipe cleaners, floral picks, old small Christmas ornaments, holiday buttons, jingle bells etc. These are really any sort of old holiday trinkets, paper and fabrics you have laying around the house. You can also pick these items up at yard sales, the clearance aisle of Michael's or by dismantling old Christmas decorations you already have. This also gives you a reason not to toss out old broken ornaments. Hot glue gun and sticks. A small piece of yarn or wire for hanging.

Instructions - Use your hot glue to glue a bow at the top or bottom of a CD. Glue some ribbon around the edges of the CD. Use Acrylic Apple Barrel Paints (they cost 50 cents) and paint red and white candy cane stripes on the CD. The whole point is to use the CD as a wreath shape and add design elements with whatever you can get your hands on.

Rag Wreath

Supplies Needed - 2 yards of Christmas fabric (you could use an old cloth Christmas table cloth, bed sheets or pillow cases as well.) One 12" Styrofoam wreath ring. Scissors. Optional Christmas floral picks or ornaments. A small piece of yarn or wire for hanging. Spray fabric starch used for ironing.

Instructions - Cut fabric into strips 8 inches long by 3 inches wide. Cut a "V" in the center of the bottom edge of the strips so they resemble a ribbon award. Tie strips around the wreath ring. Tie them into knots so they don't come undone. Leave the tails hanging.

If you opt to use floral picks or Christmas ornaments glue them in place.

Fluff the tail ends of your fabric strips so they stand up and give the wreath a full appearance. Spray them with fabric starch or sizing so they hold their shape. If you find that you can see the Styrofoam wreath ring underneath, add more strips of fabric and overlap the edges until no more Styrofoam can be seen. The more fabric strips you add, the fuller your wreath will be.

Making Your Wreath Ready to Hang

Once you've created your homemade Christmas wreath tie a small piece of yarn or wire into a loop and attach to the back of the wreath with hot glue.