Trashtastic Treasures- DIY Vintage Shiny Brite Wreath for Valentines Day

Hey friends!  Today is a snow day for us, so I got to sleep in a little and woke up to a winter wonderland, again. But inside, I’m thinking about decorating for Spring!  I have a little DIY project to share with you today, and I’m not exactly calling this one a success.  But in the spirit of keeping it real, I decided to share it.  I made this ornament wreath out of vintage pink Shiny Brite bulbs, and I ran into some complications, so it’s a little lopsided, as you can see.  But the colors are so pretty that it almost makes up for the funny shape, I think.

I made this wreath on my own, without reading any tutorials or anything.  I really don’t want to call this post a tutorial, because I clearly effed it up.  But I will share what I did, because curious minds need to know, right?  So maybe I should title this post what not to do? Ha!  Let me tell you the story of my jacked up Valentine’s Wreath.

So I bought these pink Shiny Brite bulbs off of Ebay before Christmas.  They were $5.99 for the lot. I had the intentions of using them on my tree.  But then I decided to go all plaid inspired, and the pink just did not fit in.  So I decided to save them and make a Valentine’s Wreath with these lovelies. Great idea right?

I bought a grapevine wreath form, and figured I would just hot glue the bulbs all around it.  And that is just exactly what I did!  I started by hot gluing certain ones right on the front of the wreath going around, then I just proceeded to hot glue them wherever to fill in empty spots.  But I ran into a problem.  I didn’t have nearly enough bulbs.  I did not realize that this thing would need a million bulbs.  So I was back on Ebay looking for more pink Shiny Brites.  This time around I had a harder time finding some.  But I did purchase two more boxes- which was 24 more, and they were $25.  I thought for sure that would be enough, right?  Well, you be the judge, because this is how the wreath turned out.  I used what I had.

I personally think this wreath can be salvaged, with a crap load of more pink shiny brites, which I am not finding very cheap right now.  I just found a lot of 12 for $20 more bucks.  But I still don’t think that will be enough.  So I am in this wreath for quite a bit of cash if I want it to look the way it does in my head.  And you know I have to go there, right?  I can’t leave all of these vintage Shiny Brites hot glued to this wreath and have it not look finished!   So I will be on a mission to find the ornaments I need to finish this thing.  But it won’t be before Valentine Day.  It won’t make my husband happy, and it won’t be cheap either.  I am going to be in this thing for quite a chunk of change, Which I usually don’t do.  But hey, vintage shiny Brites, right?  and I will keep this wreath for a long long time, right?  It will be worth it to make it look finished.  Right?  Tell me I am right dammit!

Until that day that this wreath looks perfect and full and lush, I tied a white ribbon with little read hearts around it and hung it in my entryway.  I mean, it’s certainly not ugly.  It’s just a little bit off.  Not quite round.  And you can still see the grapevine wreath base.  I don’t want that to be visible.  And I want it to be a prefect circle in the end.

I just can’t help it.  I am still in love with this little piece of Pink Shiny Bright imperfection.  And I know in my heart I can make her look the way she looks in my mind.  Like a Pink Shiny Brite Goddess!  All pink and shiny and bright!  She and I are in this thing till the end!  I won’t let you down, Pinky promise!

Just in case you would like to see a proper tutorial for making a bulb wreath, I think this one is great. And this one using a wire hanger looks easy too.   Sure do wish I would have read them in the first place!  What I did wasn’t horribly wrong, I just was underestimated how many ornaments I would need.  Before I go today, I took a couple of other shots of my entry for you.  I didn’t do a lot of decorating for Valentines Day this year, I’ve been busy.  But I still hung my DIY pink yarn heart, and the cute black pillow with gold heart is from the Target One Spot.  They never let me down.

And just in case you are wondering (or you may have never seen it), this is where my DIY Love canvas landed this year.  I made it last year, and I still love it!  the words above the kitchen doorway are also new.  I put those up during snowmageddon.  I thought it was fitting because you can clearly see it when you enter our front door. Ignore the messy kitchen.  This picture is about the sign people!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you enjoyed reading about my imperfect Valentine’s Day wreath.  Do you love it as much as I do?  Or would you never be able to display it in this imperfect state?  I would love to know your thoughts!  Have a great Tuesday!

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