DIY Christmas Wagon Wheel with White Lights!

Tis’ the season! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We sure did, visiting with my family in Maine.  We dined out this year; therefore, there was no cooking or mess.  It was such a gorgeous day; our seats overlooked Perkins Cove’s ocean.

I always wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for the holidays, and now is the time!  Ya! Today, I want to share a simple DIY Christmas wagon wheel project that anyone can accomplish and will surely add to your holiday decor.

Do you have an old wagon wheel hanging around? If not, maybe take a trip to your local flea market, consignment store, antique store, etc.. They look beautiful, decorated with white lights and made into Peace signs. I made one last year, and I received so many compliments on it. Everyone thought it was a Peace sign that I purchased. However, it was just an old wagon wheel that the previous owners of our home left behind with white lights that I added.  

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I am assuming that most vintage wagon wheels are about the same size. Therefore, to begin, all you will need are 600 white lights. A box of 100 lights cost me $2.69 each at our local hardware store, so the total cost for this project is $16.14.

To begin, find a space where you can lay the vintage wagon wheel down to string the lights.

Before you begin, I recommend plugging in the lights to be sure they are all working. You never know, and it would be a pain if you strung all the lights on only to find afterward that one string isn’t working.

To begin, you want to leave the plug side showing. That will plug into your extension cord.

Start wrapping the lights around the circumference of the entire vintage wagon wheel.  I wrapped 10 times between each spool for a really full-even look.

Hold the lights tightly in a bunch; it will be so much easier to wrap them around the wagon wheel.

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Once you have completed the circle, it’s time to start on the Peace sign part of it. Choose the spools that you want to use: one on top and two on the bottom. I started with the top spool and strung the lights tightly up that spool to the end.

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When you finish the first spool, you may simply start the other two spools by bringing the string of lights underneath to the next spool.  There’s no reason to start a new light string.

This DIY Christmas wagon wheel looks amazing at night and is unique! If I were a professional photographer, I would share it with you; however, night shots and lights just don’t work for me. Shoot! 

We hang ours from our gigantic maple tree that overlooks our road for everyone to see. It would also be gorgeous hanging on a barn, garage, storefront, etc. It’s not just for the holidays, either. It would also be great year-round, for the 4th of July, home celebrations, etc.

The DIY Christmas Wagon Wheel is seen in the night sky hanging on a large oak tree.