Project No. 1: Grape Vine Wreath with Mesh Ribbon and Decor

This is super easy to do, and no glue gun is required!  Select mesh ribbon (or Ruban en maille in French) with the colors you like and just make sure your decor colors work well with your ribbon choice.  This project can be done in less than an hour easily.

Here is what you will need:

1. One grape vine wreath (20″ size was used)
2. 4″ and 8″ green zip ties (a.k.a, cable ties)
3. Roll of Mesh Ribbon (20.5″ width was used).  Length is dependent on how big you want to make the puffs.
4. Your choice of matching ornaments (holiday balls, florist picks, etc.)
5. One large tin decor (snowman face with hat used)
6. Sharp scissors or snips

First step is gathering the end of your ribbon and attaching it to the wreath.  Zip ties work extremely well for this. They are strong, easy to connect, and durable.

Once you have your starting end attached to the wreath and secured tightly by pulling the zip tie closed (left above photo), determine how big you want your puffs to be.  You will be gathering the ribbon at the next interval (right above photo), and how much you space each interval is dependent on how big you want that puff to be, or you can place your zip ties at even intervals/spacing first so you can judge before you start attaching the next puff.

NOTE:  For the interval places you will attach the ribbon, be sure you do not pull the zip ties completely tight at each interval as you pinch and attach.  Leave a little slack because at each interval, you will attach your decor items (so you need some gap or space at the zip tie to attach the decor items after you are done.)

Move to your next gathering location.  Gather and pinch the mesh ribbon at the next spot, and attach with the zip tie (loosely closed).  It helps if you insert the zip tie first at your next position, so it is ready for you.  You may also want insert the zip ties before you start attaching the ribbon at intervals to estimate the spacing so it is at equal intervals for each puff you will make on the wreath.

At the last tie, leave a long strip of the mesh ribbon to serve as your tail ends.  Using the scissors, cut it in half length wise, so you have two tails.  The length of the tails is up to you.

Now it is time to attach your decor.  Florist picks, decor with stick ends, and regular holiday ornaments are easy to secure.  Grab another zip tie, and slide it through the ball hook end, then attach it at the intervals to the zip ties used to secure the ribbon.

Position a large focal point element where you feel it is well balanced and easily secured.  In this case, a snowman with hat was used.  The hat tip had a hook on it so it was super easy to use the zip tie (my favorite attaching mechanism!) to the top end of the wreath.  At the base of the tin, luckily the back had a little hook too.  (P.S. Holiday tins and decor shown in these projects are available at my December 7th Evergreen Kissing Ball and Holiday Creations class!)

After you have all the ornaments on and other decor, go around to pull each of the zip ties tightly closed to get everything secured.  Snip off the tail ends of zip ties that are sticking out.

NOTE: The florist picks with a shiny silver gold flakes and the red leaves were very easy to insert because of their wired ends. Just tuck them in and secure with the wired end. Or just stick in the pick end (like on the snowflake) into the grape vine wreath.  

The grape vine wreath base works great for this project, but you could use other types of wreath frames.

Hang on your door and enjoy!

Project No. 2: Big Ball Bunch with Mesh Ribbon

This is something I did last year, but this year, I decided to try it out with the mesh ribbon.  I love hanging this ball bunch from an overhead light fixture at my entrance.

Items need:

1. Large weather resistant holiday balls
2. 4″ and 8″ zip ties (a.k.a., cable ties)
3. Mesh ribbon (20.5″ width used)

The first step is connecting all the balls together.  Zip ties are awesome for this (gotta love those zip ties!!).  Run a tie through each end of the individual balls and then attach them together with a central zip tie.  You may want to hang them somewhere after to access if you like the look of how the balls are positioned before you attach the mesh ribbon.  The balls are gathered together but not super tightly because you need those gaps and wide open areas of the ties to pull through the mesh ribbon in your next step.

Cut a length the ribbon to get started.  It is difficult to judge how long you want that length to be cause you will be tucking and inserting it into the zip tie between the big balls based on the look and size you desire.  I started with like a 4 ft length, and cut more later as I worked.

Gather the starting end of the mesh ribbon and tighten the top of one of the zip ties to secure the starting point. Once secured, move a few inches down to the next gathering point.  Again, how many inches is up to you – how big do you want that puff to be. Once you know, pinch and gather, and use a zip tie around that point to secure the pinched area (top right photo). And then from that point, bunch up your next gathering point on the ribbon with a zip tie and pull it through another zip tie that is on a ball.  Repeat the process, and tuck and pull the ribbon around the balls to form the look desired.  Leave a tail end to hang from the base to cut in half length wise when done.

When all completed, remember to add a zip tie to hang the whole bunch from.  Here it is shown hung on an overhead light structure.  I wish I could have taken a better photo, because the cast of the shade was making the photo dark – but in the sunshine, this big bunch of balls with beautiful mesh ribbon is so sparkly.  I just love it!  And it is so easy to assemble.  This project took only about 30 minutes or so.  Very easy.

Project No 3: Urns with Big Red Ball and Mesh Ribbon

So since I was on a roll, I thought I would dress up my two urns outside.  Again, super easy with the mesh ribbon.

Items needed:

1. Container of your choice, filled with soil
2. Stakes (bamboo pole used)
3. Loppers to cut bamboo stake
4. Big Holiday Ball (needs to have an open end or hole)
5. 4″ and 8″ zip ties (a.k.a., cable ties)
6. Mesh Ribbon (20.5″ width used)
7. Wire (ends of coat hanger wire used)

Step one is cutting the bamboo stake to the desired equal lengths.  Insert the stake into the soil.  Position it in the center.

Attach the beginning end of the mesh ribbon to the stake with a zip tie tightly closed so it is secured to the bamboo stake.  Then wrap the ribbon around the pole to create another “puff”. Keep repeating attaching each puff to the center stake/pole.  After you have your puffs in place, use the wire to push the mesh down in the center so it is level. You can bend the wire into a U shape to do this.

Insert the ball to the top of the stake end.  Later, I plan to add live evergreen cuttings and tips.  It’s got a thriller or focal point (the ball), a filler (the mesh ribbon), but it still need something else to spill around it, which will be the live evergreen cuttings later.

Mesh ribbon is so incredibly easy to use.  It beats struggling with regular ribbon and it creates such a nice large and showy display.  You can make the puffs as large or small as you like.  There are endless uses for mesh ribbon during the holidays.

And if you select a mesh ribbon with a little sparkle, it will shine in the sun too.  My recommendation is you get a roll at least 10 yards long – you will use it – believe me – because it is so much fun meshing around.  For these three projects, I used approximately 15 yards of ribbon total.

Written by Cathy Testa