Christmas wreath
light string (optional)
Krylon black spraypaint (or, for a more PVC look, hi-gloss black epoxy appliance spraypaint)
Krylon stained glass color spraypaint (colours used: blue and purple)
cardboard box
tissues
plastic Halloween rings
plastic party favour snakes
rubber party favour hot pink bat
small gauge (around 18-26) galvanized steel wire
wire cutters
My wreath came with clear lights already attached. I pulled out the bulbs (test it to make sure they work first!), and stuffed the sockets with bits of tissue, making sure I got them all. If you get a wreath without lights attached you can add your own light string in any colour, without having to spraypaint them yourself.
The bulbs were further removed, so it was just the glass bulb bit. Unbend the two small wires on the underside, and then you can remove the bulb itself from the plastic housing. The bulbs were put on one side of the cardboard box, pins poked in first to make two holes, and then the wires inserted (poking the holes first puts less stress on the fragile wires, so there's less possibility of breaking them. You need to protect them from the spraypaint so they make the connection, and this way the bulbs stand straight up so you can spray them from all angles). Do not use styrofoam instead! It reacts toxically with the spraypaint, and fumes all over the place quite horribly (I found out the hard way, and it was absolutely awful, and stunk for days, even with ventilation).
Always make sure you are spraypainting in a well ventilated area. I used the garage since it was a tad windy out. Also as always with spraypaint, line the ground with old newspaper before spraying, since you will make a mess (this seems totally obvious to me, but I know someone who didn't realise either of these things). The wreath was then sprayed with the black spraypaint. A number of coats were necessary, and I also rearranged the foliage after it dried each time to get as much of the green black as possible.
While spraying the black coats, I also sprayed the clear bulbs with the glass paint. The purple was really awfully pink, especially when lit, so I sprayed it with two coats of purple, then a coat of blue, then a coat of purple (more coats means more coloured, as well as darker, light- if you want the light to be more purple, make sure to spray more coats. as you can see, this still ended up with pink light, which rather matched my bat, so I didn't mind). I used the same technique on garland for the banister, and put halloween bat and spider garland on it. I put the lights back together, inserting the bulbs in the plastic housings, bending the wires back down, and replacing them all in the sockets, after removing the tissues.
Lastly, I decorated the wreath. This one got bits of things I had around the house. The bat was wired around each wing to the wreath, at the bottom. Randomly around the rest I wired on plastic snakes in blues and lavendars, and the charms from big chunky plastic Halloween rings, in pinks, blues, purples, and glow-in-the-dark- everything is blacklight responsive. Other wreaths will be decorated with other things.
