How To Make and Hang Garland For Your Christmas Tree or Mantel

 As you know I have been decorating a lot of Christmas trees at work and am finally done, now of course I have to decorate my own. At the store where I work, I use the merchandise to decorate the trees – all ready made garlands, ornaments, and ribbon.  When it comes time to decorate my own tree I like to use something a bit more unique, something creative, something I made.  You may remember the Friends and Family garland I made and showed you in a previous post.  My decorations don’t have to be fancy or expensive, in fact I love when I see some innovative twists on basic decorations, they inspire me to comes up with something new for my tree each year.

Back in the 90′s I contributed a few DIY decorating idea sections to a Christmas decorating book entitled,  An Old Fashioned Country Christmas.

One of the sections was about creating garlands from odds and ends.  Since we are all beginning to deck our halls, I thought I would share it with you.  Garlands can be more fun as an an adult to make than it was as a child making garlands out of construction paper.  Garland making is pretty simple and can make for a  fun Girls Night In.  All you have to do is gather a bunch of garland making supplies, a few bottles of wine, and girlfriends for a fun night of holiday cheer and creativity.  Some eggnog and Christmas cookies might help, too.

 These ideas can be tweaked using your own color palette and style.  Mix and match the elements to see what you can come up with to trim your tree with this year.

Need some more inspiration?  How about using large jewelry making jump rings to string playing or board game cards into a garland. Or string vintage necklaces together to create a glamorous one.  You can find them in your grandmother’s jewelry box, thrift stores, flea markets, and on ebay.

My friend Karen covers little blocks of styrofoam with gift wrap and strings them with beads in between for a colorful present garland.

I also found these easy ideas for unique garlands while browsing online.

At Re-Nest, they modernized the tried and true paper loop garland that we used to make as kids into a very stylish one using scrapbook paper or ribbon.

I am one of those people who cut the buttons off of every old or stained garment before I throw it away.   I have amassed quite a collection and think this button garland from 2StixIn The Woods would look perfect in a room decorated in whites.

A sweet garland I found over at Robin Beck’s Nest goes perfectly with the traditional red and green theme, plus it’s edible!  Yum.

Calling all “Foodies” for this one.  One Layer Cake made a garland out of cupcake liners.   How clever.  It kind of has a Shabby Chic look.  Cupcakes are so popular and you can buy liners in every color and pattern imaginable so you can color coordinate your tree.

Using a paper doily to make a snowflake creates an extra pretty snowflake, but stringing them together as they did over at Design Sponge will have you singing, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow…while you decorate your tree.

If you want to combine your ornaments and garland – try tying ornaments on pretty ribbon and hang as a decorative garland over mantels and doorways - no tree needed.

-To store garland tangle-free, carefully wind them around cardboard wrapping paper tubes.

-Garland has more impact when it is doubled up.

-There are so many ways to hang garland on a tree, but I find I always go with the traditional way of draping it.

I have had this picture of the traditional placement of garland in my idea file for a very long time.   I still pull it out every Christmas as a handy guide.

A few years ago I used dried hydrangeas instead of bows at each peak.  You can use anything, the important thing is that whatever you use is spaced evenly around the tree.

Have you decorated your tree yet?  Do you add garland or have any clever garland decorating  ideas?  I would love to hear all about it.  Do share.

Tagged as: Christmas Tree Garland Ideas, How to make your own Christmas Garland