Batter Up!

Mother Nature is trying to fool us into believing spring is here. It's not. Yet. But baseball season is in full swing! Pun intended. I've seen a lot of different baseball wreaths on Pinterest and decided I wanted to try my hand at making one. Here's the result:

It wasn't too hard and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Our Florence Buffaloes are already making their name known in the games they've played, so I decided to embellish my wreath with a little team spirit, thus the 'F' and the purple bow. If you'd like to try making one for yourself, here's what you'll need:

1. Used baseballs.  (New are too expensive to sacrifice for decor!) I used 13 balls.
2. Drill.  I used a drill press, which made the process a lot easier.
3. Stiff wire or clothes hanger.  I discovered a regular clothes hanger couldn't hold the round shape, once the balls were added, so I used a hanger for tablecloths that came from the dry cleaners.
4. E-6000 glue.  Optional, but recommended.
5. Pliers and wire cutter.
6. Whatever embellishments you want to add.

And here are the steps I took in making my wreath:

1. Drill a hole all the way through all the balls, using a bit large enough to accommodate the wire's passage through the ball.
2. Unwrap the 'hook' on the wire hanger and straighten out the wire as much as possible. Some of the 'wrinkles' left in your wire can be cut off, if they are near the end and don't effect your ability to fit all the balls you want on your wreath. 
3. Feed the wire through each of the baseballs.
4. Once all the balls are strung, bend your wire into a circle.
5. Using pliers, wrap the extra wire at the top several times around itself to close the circle as much as possible. Tuck in any sharp points.
6. There should be a little slack between the balls.  Place a smidgen of glue between each ball, to make the wreath more stable.
7. Now add whatever embellishments you want!

Hope you have fun making this baseball wreath!  Let me know if you have questions about the process.