Christmas-mad mum reveals how to make £50 dupe of trendy £200 bauble wreath

3 December 2020, 12:16 | Updated: 3 December 2020, 14:20

By Emma Gritt

@emmagritt

If you fancy a Christmas craft challenge, why not have a go at making your very own bauble wreath?

A crafty mum has revealed how you can make an ‘etsy-worthy’ bauble wreath for your front door for less than £12. 

Louise Foster, 38, from Cheshire, proudly showed off her home made festive dupe online, where she told other members of LatestDeals.co.uk that she had seen similar ones selling on the creative marketplace for around £200. 

The mum-of-four said: "When I saw how much similar handmade wreaths can sell for, it felt so good to be able to save that much by making my own.

"I'm able to put that money to better use at Christmas, and I want this year to be extra special after all we have missed out on as a family."

Louise, who is mum to Lewis, 17, Evan 16, Nicholas, 15, and 11-year-old Eve, called upon her previous career as a florist when putting the impressive Christmas wreath together, which has a huge 64cm diameter and a circumference of 2 metres.

One of the best things about making your own wreath is that you can decide on the colour scheme. Louise opted for a classy silver combination, but you can let your imagination run wild, or just use what you already have.

Not only Louise's family loves the eye-catching decoration, and she's been inundated with requests to make more, including one for a local charity raffle.

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She said: "The funds will go to a local charity called Taking A Walk In Their Shoes, which provides local families with food parcels and other essential items they need.”

For people wanting to have a go at home, Louise estimates that the oversized wreath will cost £51.50 to make, using bargain buys from B&M, Screwfix and ASDA, but if you already have the baubles hanging around in the loft, you could crunch down the cost to just £11.50.

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She added: “To get the same result I’d recommend you avoid mixing different sized baubles on the outer edges. Use only larger ones for a more solid foundation.

“Plus, working from the biggest to the smallest baubles is more visually appealing, as it’ll give the wreath more depth. Lastly, make sure the pipe ring you use is strong enough to support the weight of the baubles.”

Here she shares detailed instructions for making your own...

Step 1: 

“For the frame, I settled on using pipe insulation, as it was the cheapest option. I used two lots, each measuring 1 metre long, which cost less than £2.50 in total from Screwfix.

"I stuck them together and then taped them all the way around with heavy-duty tape to protect the insulation from the hot glue I’d be using to stick the baubles on, and also to give it some extra strength.”

Step 2: 

To stay in keeping with her silver metallic theme, Louise headed to B&M to buy the baubles.

She said: “I bought 200 in total, picking out three different sizes, which came to £40."

If you want to keep an eye on your budget, you can easily use any spare baubles you have hanging around in the loft.

Step 3: 

“Start by placing the largest baubles around the inner and outer edge. Use hot glue to stick each side of the bauble that touches the frame.

"Also put a bit of glue at the points where the baubles meet the other baubles. Keep them as close to each other as possible, and don’t worry about any gaps at this stage.”

Step 4: 

“Next, use the medium-sized baubles to cover any gaps between the larger baubles. Make sure these are also secured to, or sit very close to, the frame.

"Glue them into place and, once again, don't worry too much about any gaps. You should now have four rows of baubles.”

Step 5: 

“For your fifth and final row, you can get creative with the smaller baubles to fill in any remaining gaps.”

Step 6: 

“Pick out any other decorations you would like to add, such as a bow or bells, and glue them into place. I made a bow for the top out of ribbon, which I simply folded and glued into place.

"I also used a shop-bought bell decoration for the bottom costing £4 from B&M.

Step 7: 

“Wrap some beads and battery-operated outdoor fairy lights around the wreath – I got mine for £5 from ASDA. All that’s left to do is to hang it, and have yourself a very Merry Christmas!”