Christmas Tree Wire Word Ornaments

Guest post from Debra Worth

Most years at Christmas time, I take up some sort of new hobby. I suffer from crafter’s short attention . . . oh look  ceramic painting.

Last year I started wire art. It perfectly fit the bill for a busy mom who wanted to frugally decorate her tree. The ornaments caught the light so beautifully.

I made ornament after ornament. Enough for my tree, gifts, and to even sell a few. With each new one I learned a bit, so even if they are straight forward, there are some things you should know to be able to make them look their best.

Christmas Tree Wire Word Ornaments:

You will need:
A pencil and paper
Wire cutter (I ended up using kitchen shears because I could not my husband’s)
Jewelry Plyers (optimal, but I also did the first few without them)
Craft Wire (I used bronze, gold, and silver in 16 gauge)

Figure out which word you want to do. 3-4 letters is ideal. Think love, joy, noel, and hope. I tried peace and Jesus too, but the words were too long and the ornament was a little wobbly because of that.

Write out the word in a even, cursive, hand. I have done word art for years and so just did it by hand, but you can also use a computer font to help guide you. But, you might need to adjust.

Ideally the “font” will be pretty compact, easy to write in one swoop, and not at all too complicated. When writing out the word remember that the less you have to trace over what you have already written, the better.

You will need a way to  turn it into an ornament, so leave a loop of some sort at the top (see the loop at the top of the J?)

Start shaping the word using your fingers as much as possible. Use jewelry pliers to help with more intricate details.

Work methodically. Encourage the wire to go in the direction you want it to, but do not overwork of force it. Guide it. You do not want to have to bend the wires back and forth. The more you work the wire, the worse the ornament will look. For example, do you see how un-smooth the handle and L of the noel pictured above is? It was my first time doing that word, and I kept messing up.

When you are done with the word, cut the wire, leaving ample room for a handle.

I like to make a few swirls in the handle so that it matches the cursive of the ornament.

Thread the end of the wire into the top of the first letter (see the top photo for 4 examples of how I did that). Use the pliers to securely wrap the end around the handle and letter. You want to be able to wrap around a few times so that it is as secure as possible.

Once your ornament is fully shaped you can adjust a bit, and do the best to make it flat. In order to make this one as flat as possible I had to twist the bottom loop of the Y.

All done. Now you can hang on a tree and admire the light bouncing off the wires. Or give to a friend.

What are you crafting for Christmas this year?