Aluminum Wire Crafts for the Holidays

Are you on the market for last minute gift ideas or some fun holiday craft projects?  Aluminum craft wire is  the answer. We love the variety of colors, flexibility, and ease of use of aluminum craft wire. There are endless ways to use it. Here are three great projects with easy step by step tutorials!

Project Idea No. 1



 Beaded Pearl Letter

 Personalized Christmas ornament, accent for gift wrap or lettering on a wall, this beaded pearl letter can be used in many different ways.

SUPPLIES

To purchase these products from www.mardigrasoutlet.com, click on the individual product link below or click HERE for a complete supply list.

1. 24 Gauge Paddle Floral Wire: Gold
2. Aluminum Craft Wire 2MM: Gold
3. Pearl Mardi Gras Beads, 10mm 33" Pearl White

*These pearl letters can be  created in any color combination. There are lots of different options for aluminum craft wire (click HERE), as well as additional mardi gras bead colors (click HERE.)

Cost/Time

The cost of two the two basic wires is $6.50.  If you aren't upcycling your old Mardi Gras Beads, that brings the total cost to just over $10 with materials left over.  This does not include accents such as vases or floral sprays.  The aluminum wire crafts all took under 20 minutes to make.

Step 1

Choose a font you would like to use as a basic template (curvy fonts look better).  Print out your desired letter in a large size (about 6" tall). We used "Twelve Weeks Pregnant" font, available for download HERE.  Using your printed letter as a template,  mold the craft wire to the shape of the letter.

Step 2

When you have finished outlining the letter, cut the aluminum craft wire.  It is soft enough to be easily trimmed with scissors, but you may want to use a pair of wire cutters.  

Step 3

Attaching the pearl beads. Cut the pearl bead necklace between two beads, to create a long strand. Using the smaller gauge paddle wire twist the wire between the first two beads.

Step 4

Starting at one end of your wire letter, attach the pearl bead to the aluminum wire form you created.   Try to keep the pearl placement on the top of the wire, but don't worry too much about it because both the wire letter shape and pearl placement can be adjusted once you are finished.

Step 5

Move around the letter winding the paddle wire around the bead strand and the aluminum wire, holding it tightly.  If you come to the end of an arm or the top of a cap as we did here on the "W", end the chain of beads by twisting it tightly on the back and trimming the wire.  Begin again the same way you started the letter- by attaching the floral wire to the bead and then the bead to the end of the aluminum wire form.

At the end cut the remaining wire and bead strand  On the right, notice we doubled the wire twist to ensure that the beads won't slide or fall off the end.

 Our finished pearl letter

Project Idea No. 2:

Curvy Wire Ornament Hanger

Curvy Wire Ornament Hanger
This project is super easy and you can get as elaborate as you want with your twirls of wire or keep it simple.  Cut a small piece of pliable craft wire. Create small curl at the base and then at the top. Add ornament onto the bottom curl. A great idea for heavy or delicate ornaments that you would like to hang with something a little more sturdy than a traditional ornament hook.

Project Idea No. 3:

Wire Vase Accents

This project idea is fast, easy, and quickly gives plain glass vases a little added texture and color.  Simply wrap the wire around clear glass vases. You can match the wire color to your flowers or decor, even using multiple colors of wire on each vase.

 Mardi Gras Bead Upcycle!  Fill wire accented vases with beads in one color or add them in layers.  This is perfect for a mantle, coffee table, or shelf that needs a little holiday color.  Silk flowers can be inserted into the vase of beads as well.

DIY Holiday Burlap Tree created with a Tomato Cage

Simple supplies combine to create a precious holiday decoration- a lime green Burlap Christmas Tree! A standard wire tomato cage, craft wire and 9" wide burlap ribbon are all you need to make this pretty ruffled Christmas tree. Spurred by the popularity of our previous post on using a tomato cage and deco mesh ribbon to make a Christmas tree decoration (click here to see it), we created another version with a great new natural burlap texture in a lime green color.  Festive, fun and fresh!  Keep reading to see how simple it is to make your own burlap Christmas Tree for the holidays.

SUPPLIES

To purchase these products from www.mardigrasoutlet.com, click on the individual product link below or click HERE for a complete supply list.

(1) roll 9" Burlap in Apple Green

(1) roll Aluminum Craft Wire 2MM in Apple Green

Scissors and/or Wire Cutters

Wire tomato cage 

Optional Accents:

White Christmas Lights 100-light strand
4" Red/White Striped Ribbon for a bow

Candy Striped Christmas Balls Spray
 

Cost/Time

Our 4' tree took approximately half a roll of 9" burlap ribbon. The total cost of the basic supplies is approximately $14 with materials left over. This does not include accents such as the ribbon and floral sprays or the cost of the tomato cage.  This burlap Christmas Tree takes about 20 minutes to make.

Step 1

Cut short lengths of the aluminum craft wire, approximately 6 inches long.

Step 2

Weave the aluminum wire in and out of the ribbon about 1inch apart just below the top edge of the burlap. This is similar to how you gather or pleat fabric with thread.

Step 3

Push to fabric together into the center of the piece of wire. Tightly twist the wire ends together, this will cause the burlap to bunch, creating a pleated effect. We start with the tomato cage wrapped in white lights. To see our previous tutorial for how to wrap the lights on the cage, click HERE. With the light wrapped tomato cage set upside down, begin to layer on the burlap ribbon. Start about 9" up on the cage so the burlap ribbon brushes the ground. Use the wire tie to attach the ribbon onto the form around first ring.  

Step 4

Move down the roll of ribbon about 6-8 inches and repeat Step 1. Weave in and out another piece of craft wire that will become a tie for the ribbon. Continue around the first level of the cage, attaching the gathered ribbon. 

Step 5

Once you have reached the beginning of your first tier, allow for a few inches of overlap and trim the burlap. Add this cut edge back into your first tie for finished look

Step 6

Begin the second tier about 8" up on the tomato cage, just enough length to hide the top wires of the previous layer. Repeat steps 1-5 for this layer.

 

Note: With the size tomato cage we used this layer fell at next ring. This may or may not be the case for you, depending on the size of the tomato cage you use. Tomato cages vary widely with height and width.

Step 7

Continue moving upwards on the tomato cage filling in layers. 

Once you've reached the top of the tomato cage you'll need to add a final layer of burlap to cover the remaining wire legs of the tomato cage.

Step 8

Cut a piece of the burlap ribbon about 12 inches wide.  Bunching from each side, gather the burlap in your hands. Hold it at the center, and wrap it around the top of the tree.  It should look gathered to match the other layers of burlap. Tie this piece onto the top of the form as shown with the aluminum craft wire or matching rope.

The finished tree! 

Precious burlap tree with a basic red and white striped ribbon bow added to the top.

 Red and white peppermint glitter balls from a Christmas floral spray make the burlap tree even more fun and festive.

With or without lights, this Burlap Christmas Tree is adorable!  

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Deco Mesh Facebook Photo Contest

What would you do with $300 worth of free craft supplies?

Enter our facebook holiday deco mesh photo contest for a chance to find out.

We're giving away FREE product! Are you decorating for the holidays with Deco Mesh? If so, share your wonderful wreaths, sensational swags,  gorgeous garland, and creative Christmas tree Deco Mesh creations on our Facebook page! Post a photo of your Holiday Deco Mesh decor on the Mardi Gras Outlet Facebook page.  The top three photos with the most "likes" win a Mardi Gras Outlet store credit for $300, $200, and $100, respectively. 

Please post only one photo per person. Entries must be in by December 14th. Voting tabulated at noon on Saturday, December 15th.  Click HERE for more details and to "like" your favorite deco mesh holiday photos on our facebook page.

Good Luck and Happy Holiday crafting!

Quick Christmas Tree Decorating with Tinsel Ties and Deco Mesh

Just in time for holiday Christmas tree decorating, we wanted to introduce a new product, Tinsel Ties, that will make your holiday decorating easier. More than just a cute name, Tinsel Ties will save you both time and money on Christmas crafting and decorating. We can all use more of both those things during the hectic holidays!

Tinsel Ball Ties are a pair of metallic ball ornaments attached on each end to a wire tinsel tie. Sold in sets of 12 ties, they come in an assortment of sizes and colors. See all of the styles available here.



Quickly add deco mesh or ribbon accents to your Christmas tree with tinsel ball ties. The wire ties easily wrap around branches to hold additional accents like Poly Deco Mesh, ribbon or burlap in place. The sparkly ball ornaments add another festive layer. The tutorial below shows you how to use these tinsel ball ties to easily decorate your Christmas tree with deco mesh and ribbon.

Here are some more decorating ideas with Tinsel Ball Ties.

The flexible wire tinsel ties make it easy to add ball ornaments to indoor or outdoor trees, garland and wreaths. Here we quickly added Tinsel Ball Ties onto a fresh 24" Frasier fir wreath. Along with a simple red and white ribbon bow, the tinsel ties transformed a plain wreath into a precious holiday door decoration in minutes.

Ideal for outdoor decorating because they are both water resistant and shatterproof, we used tinsel ball ties to decorate an iron entry gate for a festive Christmas welcome. No worries of droopy, wet ribbon or shattered ornaments.

Add coordinating bows and ornaments at one time with the tinsel ball ties.

Use the wire ball tie to make the bow and wire it onto planter.

Tutorial: Quick Christmas Tree Decorating with Tinsel Ball Ties & Deco Mesh

To purchase these products from www.craftoutlet.com, click on the individual product link below.

• 21" Poly Mesh Roll: Deluxe Red/Lime Stripe (x2)
• 3" Red Tinsel Ties w/50mm Balls: Red (x2)
• 4" Pom Pom Ribbon: Red/Lime
• Scissors

These supplies decorated our 8 foot tree with about a half roll of deco mesh left over. Depending on the size of your tree, you may need more or less deco mesh and Tinsel Ball Ties.

Tinsel Ball Tie Tutorial

Attaching Tinsel Ball Ties and Deco Mesh to a Christmas tree is Simple!





Three easy steps to attaching the Deco Mesh to your Christmas Tree:

1. Gather the Mesh with both hands from each side. Try not to bunch it.
2. Place a Tinsel Ball Tie behind the Mesh and under one of the branches.
3. Twist the balls around each securing the mesh to the branch.

How to Decorate a Christmas Tree Using the Tinsel Ball Ties to Add Deco Mesh and Ribbon

Step 1: Start at the Top

Attach striped Deco Mesh with a Tinsel Tie near the top of the tree and let the roll of mesh unfurl to the ground.

Step 2: Move down the Tree.

As you move down the tree vertically, use the tinsel ball ties to attach the mesh to the branches. Leave at least a foot of space between each tie, to achieve the look you desire. Do not pull the mesh tight, but allow it to fall loosely between ties, this will give the tree volume and texture.

Step 3: Reaching the Bottom

When you've reached the bottom of the tree, (we used about 7 ties on an 8 foot tree), twist the deco mesh into a Tinsel Tie to secure.

Step 4: Trim

At the bottom, trim the deco mesh with scissors once you have attached it securely into a Tinsel Ball Tie.

Repeat

Continue steps 1-4 as many times as it takes to fill in your tree. We made three vertical panels of Deco Mesh on the front of the tree (with mesh left over). Depending on the height of your tree, with 2 rolls of Mesh you could create 4 or 5 hanging sections, or spiral the deco mesh around the whole tree from top to bottom.



Allow the mesh to fall naturally downwards, create zig-zag patterns down the tree, or make slight curves with the deco mesh. Rearranging the placement is easy with Tinsel Ties, and they won't poke skin or grab sweaters like floral wire.

Add Accents

At any point, you can untwist the Tinsel Ball Tie to add in bows, floral sprays, ornaments, or ribbon. This precious vintage looking pom-pom ribbon bow is easily added onto the tree by placing two loops to form a bow into the tinsel wire tie.





Add a bow as a tree topper! For directions on making a bow, see the tutorial on this blog post.




Our tree decorated with deco mesh garland and tinsel tie balls.

We hope your tree turns out just like you imagine! Merry Christmas!