Christmas Peppermint Wreath

Got a cheese box?  If so, I have the craft for you! Keep reading to find out how I turned an antique cheesebox into this adorable Christmas Peppermint Wreath!

I found three cheese boxes at this little second hand store my sister and I frequent.  I didn’t really know what I would do with them.  I thought about making them into a side table but that just seemed ridiculous.

Then one night a couple of weeks ago I came up with the idea of turning them into peppermints and hanging them on the door like a wreath.  I was so excited to get started on them, I literally could not sleep.

I spray painted the top and bottom of the box white.  I happened to have a big box around from a certain 10 foot long rollercoaster which I transformed into my own personal spray painting studio.  It kept me from spreading out newspapers and accidently spraying the concrete in my garage anyway.  There may be a small red square from the first one that I made on our garage floor.  It worked really well.

Be forewarned.  These babies soak up a lot of paint.  I used Krylon white.  On the second batch, I used a Krylon primer first and that seemed to reduce the soakage factor.

After it dried, I traced the top of the cheese box onto the back of leftover contact paper.  I cut the contact paper template out and marked the center.

Then I drew a little swirl starting at the center and working its way to the outside of the circle.  I just eyeballed it.  I took my cut out piece and traced it three more times onto the template (spaced evenly around).

After all the swirls were cut away I stuck the rest of the template to the top of the cheese box. (I also used the cut away pieces to make the other half of the cheese box into a wreath.)

Next, I spray painted the whole thing “Cherry Red.” (Make sure the contact paper is stuck down really well. Otherwise the force from the spray paint will cause the template to flip up when you are painting it. If this happens, just go over it with a little white craft paint on a sponge brush.)

Let it dry and then peel the contact paper off.

Once the red has dried, make two wholes on the side of the box at 9 and 3 (a la steering wheel). A drill would work. Since I didn’t have one I used a screw, hammer and screwdriver. Whatever works, right?

I threaded twine through the holes. This is what it will hang from.

See my little helper holding it for me?

Ok. Almost done. I bought a roll of celaphane from Michael’s (with a 40% off coupon). I wrapped the celaphane around the outside of the cheese box like a present and gathered the celaphane on the sides using a rubber band. Twine or even a hair twistie would work.

The celaphane is really flimsy and tears if you look at it wrong. Don’t worry. I used clear packaging tape on the back of my wreath where it was gathered to strengthen it a little. I think it would be ok if you didn’t. It’s mostly decorative.

I added a little bow to each side and TA-DA!

One cheese box will make two wreaths.  So you can either make two and sneak over and leave a little Christmas cheer on your neighbor’s porch, place it under your Christmas tree or save the other half for a pumpkin next Halloween.  How cute would it be painted orange, sans celaphane with a jack-o-lantern face and big green and brown bow on top??  You heard it here first, people!

Here’s another picture of the top and bottom of the cheese box. You can see how the cut-away pieces make a reversed design on the other half.

p.s. The ribbon is from Sam’s Club. You should all mark your calendars to go there on the day after Christmas and rack up on ribbon!

p.s.s.  I’m linking up to Home Stories A to Z, Tatertots and Jello, I heart Naptime, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Centsational Girl, It’s Overflowing and Serenity Now.