Mesh Tube Christmas Wreath From Dollar Tree Supplies

I’m a HUGE fan of mesh tube. Ever since I was a kid and had some hair bows made out of it, I’ve been fascinated by it. I also made Halloween and fall mesh tube wreaths, and I decided to make a Christmas wreath as well. I didn’t buy enough of the mesh tube last year, so I bought the rest of what I needed as soon as I saw it this year!

That’s an important Dollar Tree lesson I’ve learned the hard way: If you see a seasonal item that you want, buy it. You may not be able to find it next time.

As with my other two wreaths, you can find all of the supplies at Dollar Tree.

Supplies:

• Wreath form
• Mesh tube in assorted colors
• Pipe cleaners
• Scissors
• Yardstick/tape measure

Optional:

• Ornaments
• String/ribbon (to hang ornaments)

A few notes about the supplies:

Dollar Tree is not the only place you can get deco mesh tube, and with the price increase, it may not actually be the very best deal. For the amount you need to make one wreath, though, I think Dollar Tree is a good deal. Though I have not ordered mesh tube from them, I have ordered other things from craftoutlet.com, and I have had a good experience. They have a ton of mesh tube options, so if I make another wreath, I will probably order from them. 

For this project, I used 15 bags, just like my fall wreath. I used five bags each of red, green, and white/silver. I considered adding gold to the mix, but I decided not to.

I used the Dollar Tree 14” wreath form, but you can buy wreath forms elsewhere (craft stores or online). Just remember that you may need more mesh tube if you use a bigger wreath form.

You can really use any color of pipe cleaner because you won’t see them once you attach them. For this wreath, I used a pack of white pipe cleaners that I already had, but I’ve bought them at Dollar Tree before.

Let’s make a mesh tube wreath!

Cut your pipe cleaners in half. You need one half of a pipe cleaner per bundle of tube that you make. For me, that was 42, so I used 21 pipe cleaners.

Lay out your yardstick, or open your tape measure to at least 28”. You could even cut a piece of cardboard or string or something to measure against.

Open your bags of tube and snip off the ties holding each piece together (if they have them).

Unwind your tubes so that they are loose. When you’re measuring and cutting them, you don’t want them to stretch out.

Holding the ends of all of your colors together, lay them out and cut at the 28” mark. Set those aside, gather up your colors again, and repeat.

Once you have your mesh tube cut, you’re ready to start making bundles! I cut up one bag of tube of each color at a time. I’d make bundles out of those, and then cut up another batch.

Because I liked the way my fall wreath turned out, I wanted to make my bundles out of five strands of mesh tube. I only had three colors, so I mixed up the bundles a bit. I had some that were red/red/green/green/white, red/red/white/white/green, and red/green/green/white/white. I kept them separate so that I could alternate them on the wreath form, but I honestly don’t know if you could tell the difference if you didn’t.

To make your bundles, take one piece of each color and line up one end in your hand. Holding them together in your palm, make a loop at one end, and then make a loop going the other way. Go back and forth until you have two loops of each color at each end. Make sure you have enough left over in the center to get caught in the pipe cleaner. 

Wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of your bundle, getting it as tight as possible. Twist it a couple of times to secure it, and then leave the ends loose to eventually attach it to your wreath form.

Before or after you add the pipe cleaner, you can adjust your loops as needed. Just be careful not to pull them out entirely. I kept making bundles until I ran out of tube. For some reason, although I had the same amount of mesh tube as I did when I made my fall wreath, I ended up with 42 bundles instead of 48. I also ended up with a whole lot of red left over, so I don’t know WHAT I did.

To add your bundles to the wreath form, twist the ends of your pipe cleaners around the middle two bars of the wreath form. Slide the bundles to one side of each section of the form. The wreath form has six sections, and I was able to fit seven bundles into each section. Even though I had less than last time, it’s still a very full wreath!

Make sure to tuck in all of your pipe cleaner ends so you don’t get poked—and they don’t poke your door/wall. 

On the front side of the wreath, trim away any loose ends that may be sticking out.

I considered adding ball ornaments throughout the wreath, but I was afraid that might be overkill. My daughter kept insisting I use bells, but I knew those would get completely lost. So then my husband suggested having a few ornaments hanging down, and I thought that was brilliant. So that’s something I’m still considering. What would you do?

Whether or not I end up adding anything to it, I’m just so happy every time I look at it.

With the leftover mesh tube I have, I’m looking into making hair bows. I wish I’d done this when my daughter was little! She would have had mesh tube bows in every color I could find.

Happy crafting!