Easy DIY Ornament Cluster Wreath

An easy Christmas wreath made with clusters of inexpensive plastic ornaments and red striped ribbon.

red and gold ornament clusters, greenery wreath, striped ribbon

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This ornament cluster wreath is perfect for making something bold and beautiful for your home this holiday season! Whether you hang this Christmas wreath on your front door, or use it inside your home, it's bound to get noticed.

This DIY Christmas ornament is made with inexpensive plastic ornaments, keeping it lightweight while adding vibrant holiday color.

Christmas Crafts E-Book

Before I share my wreath tutorial, I am so excited to let you know I have a holiday eBook, 12 Crafts of Christmas, that is free for subscribers! If you're not already following along, you can sign up here and download the eBook from my Resource Library.

12 Crafts of Christmas holiday e-book DIY Beautify

I'm joining several fellow bloggers to share our DIY Christmas wreaths with you today, hosted by my sweet friend Jen of Tatertots and Jello. There's variety and a beautiful assortment. I know something will catch your eye! Visit the links below for more details to making your own Christmas wreath or wreaths this year!

How to make an easy ornament cluster wreath

Several years ago I made an ornament wreath using a mix of vintage and new pastel ornaments. My first attempt was unsuccessful, as the wreath fell apart in our hot attic. A couple years ago I took it apart and remade it with a new technique, and this time it turned out beautifully! If you like the look of a wreath completely covered in ornaments, you can find the tutorial for that DIY ornament wreath here.

This year, I wanted to try something a little bit different and a whole lot easier! I had a large tub filled with plastic ornaments that I've purchased over the years from dollar and craft stores. Nothing precious, you know the kind that come in a long tube or a plastic container.

Supplies you'll need:

wreath base
greenery stems
green chenille stems or wire
plastic ornaments
ribbon

I built my ornament cluster wreath on a DIY wreath base that I made in the spring, using faux boxwood and an oversized slender grapevine wreath. You can see how I made it here, it was super easy. But if you don't want to do that, you can use any wreath form depending on the style you want.

wreath base, plastic ornaments, chenille stems

I wanted to display this handmade wreath on the antique chippy window that hangs above my coffee bar. I decorate it every year with my Santa mug collection (see last year's Christmas coffee bar here), so red and white ornaments would have looked best. However, this year my goal is not to spend any money on new Christmas decor, so I used red and gold ornaments which I already had.

Because my wreath was made from boxwood, I wanted to introduce a little bit of holiday greenery, which I why I added the two pine stems. If you're using a base made of pine (or any Christmas greens) just omit this step.

steps to make an ornament cluster wreath

Step 1 - add pine stems

If you're adding pine stems, use green chenille stems (or these wired pine garland ties that I found at Dollar Tree last year) to secure the stems to your wreath base.

Step 2 - make large ornament clusters

To make ornament clusters, simply string ornaments onto a length of chenille stem, alternating colors, sizes and styles (mix in shiny with embossed and glittered). I added about 8 ornaments to each cluster, ending up with 3 large ornament clusters.

Step 3 - wire ornament cluster to wreath

Now you simply place the clusters where you want, and twist the chenille around the back of the wreath base to secure the ornaments in place. Once they're all attached, it looks seamless.

Step 4 - make a bow

I used this red and white horizontal striped ribbon I had on hand and tied a simple bow with long tails. I used another chenille stem and fed it through the knot at the back, then wrapped and secured it the bow to my wreath.

This may be the easiest Christmas wreath I've ever made! It came together so quickly. See my other Christmas wreaths here.

ornament cluster wreath, red and white striped ribbon bow

Variations

Try hanging the wreath different ways, to see which you like best. I originally hung the wreath with the ornaments at the bottom, but with all the Santa stuff on my coffee bar, it looked a little bottom heavy. However, on a front door I'm sure it would have looked fine.

I simply hung the wreath the other way, and ended up placing the striped bow in the middle rather than the side. I like it much better this way, as I feel it balances all the red on my coffee bar.

I had a bag of small ornaments and could have used them to fill in any gaps on my wreath by securing them with hot glue. However, I didn't want to use any glue or make this DIY holiday wreath permanent! I'm someone who changes her mind frequently, and I like the idea of being able to take everything apart at the end of the season so I have options for next year 😊