Christmas Garland: Paper Holly Leaves

Instead of a Christmas garland of greenery for my kitchen this year I made a garland out of French script paper that I cut into the shape of holly leaves.  I have both the leaf pattern and a the French script paper for you to download for free.  See links below.

Have you thought about how you are going to decorate this year?  This garland is a fresh way and creative way to add some holiday style around your home.

When I think about how I am going to decorate each year, the biggest factor is that whatever I do, it has to be a bit old-fashioned. I prefer the vintage look – it brings back fond Christmas memories from my childhood.

I always pick out a color scheme each year. Last year I used lots of turquoise and pink. This year I am going to use black, white, and my favorite color of green.

Holly is a universally appealing symbol of the holidays, but I gave it a vintage twist.  Since I don’t use red in my decor, I chose to make a holly garland out of vintage looking paper that I made in Photoshop and then added lots of glitter.

l love glitter at the holidays and not just any glitter, but white that has opalescent tints.

I made 3 rows of leaves for the garland. Each is separate and held together under the greenery.  Two rows with the French antique paper – one with and one without glitter. I cut the 3rd row of leaves from book pages.

Once printed and cut out, the holly leaves link together – no tape or staples needed. When the holidays are over, the garland can be quickly taken apart and stored to use for another year.

*** Look what a reader, Laurie-Jean made after reading my post.  Don’t you love how she added her own style to the garland?  It is so pretty.

How to Make a Paper Holly Leaf Christmas Garland

supplies needed:

• .pdf holly pattern printed on card stock to use as a cutting template
• paper –you can use book pages, scrapbook paper, maps, wall paper, or gift wrap – card stock does not work well – it is too rigid
• marker
• scissors
• greenery – I clipped a few cedar branches from my yard
• florist wire
• 6 ball style ornaments
• 2 small pine cones
• wire cutters
• cup hooks, tape, or a paper clips (hanging trick below)
• Optional:
• mini pom-pom
• spray glue
• white glue
• glitter

The antique French script printable and holly template can be adapted to any size using your computer printer.

1. Print out .pdf’s – links below.

Print Holly Pattern.pdf onto a piece of card stock, cut out.

Print antique French script .pdf free printable to use for holly leaves

Once you get the pattern printed on card stock, use it to trace the shape onto paper. The card stock is only for the holly template.

Wallpaper, scrapbook paper, and sheet music work well.

2. To speed the cutting-out process:  Layer 5-8 sheets of paper on top of each other with traced image on top. Cut the holly leaf shape through all layers. Make sure to include the cutout in the center of the pattern used to link each piece into a garland.  I outlined my template to make it easy to see the edges when I traced around it.

***If you have a Silhouette digital cutting machine – make a cut file from the holly pattern printable.

3. To cut out notch, fold all the layers in half horizontally.  Use small scissors to cut out notch.  You can also do each one separately.

4. Place cut leaves on a large piece of newspaper or cardboard.

5. Spray – spray glue over all leaves and sprinkle glitter over the leaves – shake off excess glitter.   (To save excess glitter, fold newspaper and use it to funnel the excess glitter back into jar.)

6. Optional: Fold each leaf horizontally to give it dimension before locking them together into the garland.

7.  The leaves are easily locked together as shown in the photo.

8. The end knob on one goes through the slot in the next.

9. When hanging – cut the linking knobs off the piece of holly that is at the end on each side of the garland.

To make the greenery at each corner, I went to my yard and clipped a few pieces from a cedar tree.

I used florist wire to make two bundles and then I wired the ornaments around the center.

How to Hang the Garland

I laid the 3 rows of holly leaves together and twisted florist wire in between the leaves where the garland dips and is covered with greenery.  I pushed the excess wire behind the cabinet door to secure.  I used a few pieces of tape for extra holding power. I used hot glue to attach the greenery and ornaments to the paper.

Style Options When Making the Christmas Garland

If you want to have your kids help make a garland, make it childlike and fun by using pom-poms for the berries.

After the leaves are linked up, simply glue a red pom-pom to one end of each leaf.

To see what the other bloggers taking part in Countdown to Christmas have created, click the links below.

The White Buffalo Styling Co

Eclectically Vintage

Stone Gable

Jennifer Rizzo

Lily Pad Cottage