DIY Christmas Wreath Ornament

A fun holiday tradition is making your own Christmas decorations and ornaments. The puzzle piece Christmas wreath ornament is one of my favorites.

Old puzzles or puzzles that are missing pieces can be used to make nice looking decorations for your Christmas tree. You will need puzzle pieces, green spray paint, a red paint pen, craft glue and ribbon or string to make your Christmas wreath ornaments.

Place your puzzle pieces on a large piece of cardboard and spray with the green paint and let dry. After the first side dries, flip the pieces over and spray the other side. Once both sides have been painted and allowed to dry, line up a circle of puzzle pieces about the size of the wreath you'd like to make.

Glue a second layer over lapping between the puzzle pieces in the first layer to hold the whole thing together. Make sure that one top piece is glued to two of the pieces on the bottom layer. If you are using plain string or ribbon, you should glue it in between the pieces you want to be the top of your wreath. Be sure that you loop the string long enough to be hung on the tree! Use plenty of glue when setting the ribbon so that it won't come loose. If you are using a very pretty ribbon, we'll add that later.

Now you have a Christmas wreath of green puzzle pieces. You'll use a red paint pen to put little holly berries. No detail work is necessary; just dot the paint several times. After the holly berries have dried, we can add the decorative ribbon.

Wrap the ribbon around and through the Christmas wreath ornament, ending at the top of the ornament. Tie the ribbon off at the top of the wreath, and then tie it off again about two inches above the top of the ornament.

You might like to add a small picture to the center of your Christmas wreath. No problem, just add another layer of puzzle pieces to the bottom, underneath the picture.

There are many possible variations you could do with this Christmas tree ornament. Adding frost to the outside edges with white paint is one. You might also hang a tiny trinket such as miniature bells in the center of your wreath.

Not only have you just made a great new ornament for your Christmas tree, but you recycled a puzzle that may have otherwise been tossed in the garbage! Use them on your tree or give some out to friends and family as a gift. You could even use them as a gift tag on presents!