It’s not even December and I’ve now got everything I need for Christmas already done. Everything has been acquired or made, so when it comes to decorating for Christmas in November we’re good to go!
Check out my other Christmas Wreaths: His & Hers Ornament wreaths // my Gold Magnolia Leaf Wreath // my Minty Cool LED Vignette Wreath // my Painted Pinecone Wreath
Check out my DIY Atomic Starburst Ornaments
*originally published Nov 3rd 2015
Today I’m participating in the Canadian Home Decor and DIY bloggers’ Christmas Wreath Blog hop. Remember our fall wreath blog hop? Well we loved it so much and you all enjoyed it, so we thought we’d do a christmas edition!
Instead of going with a green or ornament wreath, I opted to make one that would fit in with the colours I’ve been curating into our seasonal decor, and the look and feel of the PMQ. I went with a DIY starburst wreath! Not just because it’s mid-century modern, or because it matches the colours, but because it was a lot of fun to make.
This is one of the more time consuming DIYs and it requires an eye for detail.
Everything you need to make a DIY Starburst Wreath
*The following product links contain affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the brands that make PMQ for two possible. For my full policies click // here //
– 8 inch (20 cm) Smooth Foam Ball for Crafts, School and Modeling Projects
– Woodsies Dowels 12″-3/16″ 20/Pkg
– S&S Worldwide Faceted Acrylic Gemstones, 1/2 Lb. (Bag of 2000)
– CCbetter® Mini Hot Glue Gun with 25 pcs Melt Glue Sticks High Temperature Melting Glue Gun Kit Flexible Trigger for DIY Small Craft Projects & Package and Quick Repairs in Home & Office Cleanly (20-watt, Blue)
– Ribbon Large Glitter Solid Gold 5/8″
All my materials came to about 30$. I have a lot of gems left, so I’ll be recycling them into another project or two. When you look at it that way, the cost isn’t too bad considering you can buy a semi-decent wreath for about that.
How to Make an Atomic Starburst Wreath
Step 1 – Sketch the overall shape and design of the starburst. Figure out how many dowels you need and of what size. I mimicked the starburst in the image below. There are 8 large dowels, 16 medium dowels, and 24 small dowels in my design.
Step 2 – Cut and then sand the dowels. Once you’ve got the measurements for your dowels figured-out (keeping in mind that some are longer than others) cut them using a mini miter box or some sharp scissors. The small dowels were easily cut using scissors. Sand the ends when you’re done to make sure everything looks good once painted and to avoid splinters.
Step 3 – Spray-paint all the dowels. I’ve tried painting many dowels once before (when PMQ for two was just starting up) and it was the most time consuming and insane thing I had done in my life up until that point. Never again.
Step 4 – Cut the foam sphere in half. You’ll be inserting the dowels along the circumference of the half-sphere. You can use the other half as a stand for the dowels when spray-painting.
Step 5 – Using a protractor to guide you, insert the dowels to recreate your sketched pattern. I had a large dowel every 45 degrees which created “slices” to work within. Within each slice I had another 5 dowels going in every 9 degrees. Instead of gaming them all in at the same height, for each level of dowels within each slice, I raised them. It creates depth in the wreath and allows for all the dowels without them bumping into each other.
You might make some mistakes as you go, and if you do, cover the tip of your dowel in hot glue before re-insterting into the correct spot to ensure it holds. When correctly placed, the dowels will hold in the foam on their own.
Step 6 – Determine which gemstones you’ll be placing where before you start gluing. I laid-out the pattern the night before to make sure I liked all the colours and combinations before I started gluing.
Step 7 – Glue all your gemstones as planned onto the dowels using a hot glue gun. THIS was time consuming, let me tell you. I think I got through 2 episodes of Scandal while doing this.
When you get to the smaller gemstones consider using some tweezers to hold the gem while applying scaling hot glue. Your fingers will love you.
Step 8 – Start gluing gemstones onto the foam sphere at the centre of the wreath. SPRAY PAINT MELTS FOAM – You cannot spray-paint your foam centre. You can paint it or cover it in gems like I did.
Step 9 – Using ribbon, create a bow or way to hang the wreath. I opted for a classic champagne coloured ribbon to tie a bow with. I glued the ribbon to the back of the foam, and then glue my bow onto the ribbon! I weighed down the tips of the bow using gemstones on the back, and then I added a key ring right behind the bow as a way to hang it off a hook without straining the bow or ribbon.
Step 10 – admire!
I took the occasion to style the bar area for a christmas photo shoot to match the wreath!
I’m particularly proud of the wrapped Christmas gifts! I love leopard wrapping paper and I bought this stuff a little over a year ago but didn’t get a chance to use it. This is the season of the leopard print wrapping paper!
Live boldly.
I love how you are using so much bling and glam in your projects! Lovely wreath and awesome to be joining you on this wreath hop too! Pinned!
Me too! I can’t wait to visit all the other blogs to see what everyone came up with! I alway love your true-to-style creations! It all looks so perfect!
Great wreath! I think I might try this only smaller for a smallish area I have. (and, by the way, I love the Deer Head Bust….. very amusing!)
Thanks for the DIY.
Monique
Please do! And send me photos if you do! I’d love to add them as an addendum to the post 🙂 What colours would you use if you made it?
I LOVE the midcentury modern vibe of this wreath. SO cool!
Thanks <3 <3 <3 it was a fun craft to make! I'm very pleased with the outcome
I love your wreath! You made some really simple supplies look so unique and expensive. Well done!
Thanks Kassie! I enjoy transforming and making the most out of budget friendly crafts 🙂
What a fancy wreath! I never would have guessed it was so affordable to make- this would be great for a classy holiday party.
Thanks Colleen! Super affordable! That’s what drew me to it as an idea 🙂 Now I have to invest in a solid storage option for it this year.
This is such a glamourous wreath – my sis lives in a mid century style home and it would be perfect!
Thanks Dani! I love the MCM aesthetic for christmas, it’s so colourful! Everone does red and green, but pink and gold as well?! now we’re talking!
Wow Ariel, this is like a work of art! I love how it looks styled with your bar cart. Super festive!
xo
Thank you so much Andrea! I had considered styling it on the front door, but I think it looks its most festive above the bar cart 🙂
Hi April! Love the shape of your wreath. Might take a crack at a project like that but as wall decor. Will be looking back at how you managed it! Happy holidays!
Cheers,
Meagan
Thanks Meagan! It was a labour of love, but an easy DIY once you get down to it – Ariel
It looks perfect above that bar cart.
Thanks Bette!
Your starburst wreath turned out so pretty! I love it!
Thanks Thea! I was going for a non-traditional wreath and I got it!
Wow girl! You outdid yourself! It looks amazing though 🙂 Kudos to you! Love your style!
Thank you so much Lindi! It was a labour of love that’s for sure! Can’t wait to see what you made!
Beautiful! Very glam – perfect with the leopard print! 🙂
Thanks Jenn! I’ve wanted to pull off a glam christmas decor for a while now and I finally have all the elements in place 🙂
I TOTALLY love this! So mod, I love how you styled your photo and bar cart too! Great job, Merry Christmas
Thanks Virginia 🙂 I LOVE styling photos as much as I love making the crafts
Somewhere, a geometry teacher is celebrating! You will use math in everyday life!
AHA! I hadn’t thought of it that way! It’s funky eh?
You like to go above and beyond!!! I love this idea!
Thanks girl! It would look awesome in your new home I bet 😉
Hi Ariel,
This wreath is amazing!!! I can’t believe it started as a Styrofoam ball. The jewels…the colors…love it all!!!
You would be surprised how many things you could say that about in my home 😉
Another really cool, unique wreath! I would love to try to make one for my daughter. She would love to have this in her room! Though, I want it for me too 🙂
You could make two! I only use the inside part of the hoop for this wreath, so technically I have enough left over for a second wreath 🙂
Love the bling on this guy and who doesn’t love a starburst?
You and I are on the same page here. This is my all-time favourite wreath, and the movers broke it! ahhhhh
This is so cool! It would make fabulous New Year’s Eve decor! I love how you used faux jewels on it.
I think so too! It’s why I had it over my bar cart 😉 Part-ay!
SO cool!
thanks!
hi Ariel,
Do you remember what size you cut the dowles?
Sadly no! I I just eyeballed it
I just wanted to let you know that I made this wreath for a Christmas wreath auction here in Palm springs CA. It brought in $260.00 for the local Animal shelter & lgbt center. Thanks for the idea.
That makes me SO happy to hear!! Do you have a pic? I’d love to see how it turned out
I do have pictures for this wreath and the other 5 that I made for friends. I wasn’t sure how to post on this site though.
Are you on Instagram? Send me a DM! @pmqfortwo
I sent over a few pictures on Instagram. I have an account with them, but really never use it, so hope I did it correct.