holiday DIY - cranberry wreath

thanksgiving is old news by now.  its all about christmas now which actually means its about getting giving presents, and eating lots of treats.  and decorating your house with little santas and reindeer and crap like that.  in my family we have a tradition of making decorations out of cranberries - an idea my mom got from martha stewart magazine like 15 years ago!   

its super easy and cheap!  kids can do it!  adults can do it!  i even had my dog helping me (kinda, not really)!  plus, everyone will think you spent money on some fancy wreath and will be oh so impressed when you say you made it your self!  this year we decided to add a cone to the cranberry decorations - i guess its supposed to look like a cranberry christmas tree.

materials:

stryofoam wreath or cone.  cone takes about half the time (or less).

toothpicks - lots of 'em

cranberries - we had 4 bags you'll have extra when you are done.  better too many than not enough!

scissors

step 1: cut the toothpicks in half.  i used about three times the amount in the photo below.  i definitely suggest using scissors versus breaking the toothpicks by hand.  breaking them hurts your fingers and creates splinters.  be careful when cutting with scissors, as one half of the toothpick might shoot across the room!

step 2: stick the cut side of the toothpick into the side of the cranberry, about a 1/4" into the cranberry.  more than half of the toothpick should be sticking out of the cranberry.

step 3: place your finger over the opposite side of the cranberry and gently push the cranberry down into the styrofoam.  try to avoid the toothpick poking through the other side of the cranberry.

step 4: work in a circular pattern around the wreath or cone.

carlos is wondering if he can eat the cranberries

step 5: once the first row is finished, start the second row and fit the cranberries together to avoid too much empty space.  this is why its good to buy an extra bag (we started with 3 bags and then ran out for a 4th), you might not get enough small berries to fill in smaller spaces! 

step 6: keep on working...

and working....

and working...

note the little santa in the background...

until the entire outside of the wreath is covered in!  leave the back of the wreath as is if it the wreath will be hanging on a wall.  i've thought about maybe painting the styrofoam wreath red before adding the cranberries since the white spots kinda bother me, but honestly the entire thing takes about 4 hours already...

now i've just got to get some lights put up and i'm ready for my holiday taco party!  what kind of decorations do you all put up for the holidays?  any special DIYs?