Appreciation Wreath

Most of the Christmas decor at my parents' house were damaged because of the Ondoy flood 2 years ago. Majority of the the ones that survived the flood were thrown away because they were already too old anyway.

I really wanted to make a couple of crafts for them to use as decorations last Christmas but I was totally preoccupied with all the paper cupcakes and other DIY stuff for Alonzo's 1st birthday. 

Last week, they started to put up the Christmas decors and I really felt so sorry about the lamentable wreath made of rafia (no offense, Mama).

This inspired me to make what I'll call an appreciation wreath.

 I thought, wouldn't it be a great idea to hang photos of the year's events that you are grateful for? What a symbolic way to celebrate and revere the year's blessings.  

Materials you'll need:

1. wreath

(I intended to get the styro ones but those weren't available at

National Bookstore so I got these instead)

2. several of your favorite photos

(I suggest that you have them printed in black and white or sepia)

3. ribbon

4. a couple of trimmings
such as Christmas balls, holly or fake berries 

5. glue gun

Procedure:
step 1: wrap ribbon around wreath and secure (I used a glue gun)

step 2: cut about 2  feet of ribbon and use it to make a

knot around wreath
(this will be used to hang the wreath)

step 3: arrange photos around wreath and glue

(I didn't like the idea of using glue since I want to re-use the wreath each year and just keep changing the photos. 
I planned on experimenting with paper clips keep my photos in place but the material of the wreath made it hard to work with.
With a Styrofoam wreath it should be pretty easy) 


step 4: insert trimmings all over your wreath
(either use a glue gun or just poke them through)

The photos that we chose were those from Alonzo's first birthday, 
his first Easter egg hunt,
first haircut,
the birth and baptism of his cousin, Kata,
cousin Paco's first birthday,
Alonzo at playhouse,
Alonzo playing with the neighborhood kids
and some of our favorite photos of Alonzo     


Maybe when Alonzo is older he could help out and choose the photos himself. I also wanted to display more photos but the wreath wasn't huge enough!