I’ve been trying to make Christmas more meaningful and Christ centered. I absolutely loved the names of Christ advent ornaments Kojo-designs shared a few years ago, so much so that I made a little advent tree patterned after the idea.
When designing my Dream Tree for Michaels this year, I wanted to incorporate the idea again, but on a larger scale.
I didn’t want it to be too bold or loud, but elegant and simple.
Gold wire felt like just the right solution!
Here’s the how to:
SUPPLIES
12 gauge gold floral wire (also comes in silver) *
Wire cutters
Round nose pliers
*Each wire bundle makes about 2-3 words, 4-6 inches in height. (My wire is from Michaels)
TUTORIAL
1|| Remove wire bundle packaging, and start with the wire off the roll. Do not cut yet.
2|| Use scrap paper and write out your word how you want it to look. Script works best. This helps you visualize it beforehand, so that you can make as few mistakes as possible. You may even want to write it out to size and use it as your template.
3|| Move steadily and fluidly. Once the wire bends, it’s hard to redirect it without it looking a little wavy or messy. You can smooth it out with a lot of effort, if need be, or let the waviness be apart of your design, but it ends up looking best if you don’t hesitate too much.
If you can, try to make no cuts or as few cuts as possible for a more stable and prettier ornament. If you have to make cuts, try to wrap them in spots where the letters overlap anyway.
4|| Curl under sharp ends with your needle nose pliers for safety and to add detail.
5|| Place in your tree and mold it to the branches.
More tips:
– It helps to have a few short words so that you can get the most out of your wire.
-If you feel adventurous and want to figure out how to make multiple word wire names, then go for it. Otherwise, it’s best to stick to one word names.
– For lower case i’s and t’s, it can help to twist a loop of wire a few times (kind of like the neck of a wire clothes hanger).
– Don’t stress about dotting your i’s or j’s. It’s all going to end up looking a bit abstract anyway.
– Always get more wire than you think you’ll need just in case. I used about four bundles, but had a fifth bundle on hand just in case.
– If you need names of Christ ideas, of course the Bible is a great resource, but these links help as well: here, here, and here (same links I listed above). Good short names are: Rock, Son, Way, Lamb, Word. There are of course more, but those should get you started.
– And most of all…have fun with it! 🙂
karen says
This is beautiful and awesome! Perfect way to incorporate christ into the tree.
Delia says
Thank you Karen! <3
kirstin says
LOVE LOVE LOVE! It looks fantastic and is such a great reminder, right there on your tree, of the reason we’re celebrating. Again, just love. 😉
Delia says
Thank you Kirstin! <3
Charity says
I love these. =) I have some slightly finer gauge wire hanging around… I’ll have to see if I can make it work for some slightly smaller words. =)
Alison says
I love this. So elegant. I am also trying to put Christ back into Christmas. I think I would hurt myself with the wire, but am trying to follow your older way of adding the names of Christ to my tree.
Thanks!