When the end of November arrives and December is creeping upon us, I anxiously anticipate decking the halls for Christmas! I slowly begin decorating each year right at Thanksgiving and our house is full-blown decorated by December 10th each year.
Which leads me to my favorite holiday decor....DIY garlands and swags!
I’ve been making garlands and swags for about 5 years now and I use greenery from the trees in our yard. It’s really enjoyable to me and can save a lot of money too- it’s very easy and only takes 20-30 minutes doing this method. A small one would take no time at all!
To start, cut a bunch of branches off your pine and evergreen trees in your yard. These branches will be the foundation of your garlands. I also cut berry branches and added some thin sticks to add texture. Last year, I added pine cones but I wanted to switch it up this year!
For my railing, I like to cut one long branch (about 4 ft long) to use as the foundation of the "garland". It just makes everything easier and quicker...and also much fuller. I direct all the branches going down in the same direction when decorating my railing, but when I'm doing a tablescape or a mantle swag, I will face the branches in the direction they are heading <<<>>>>
(I will do another post on that soon- same method, just facing branches going either direction).
1. Lay your long branch on the floor or counter and then add some smaller branches on top. Just layer them on top of each other to get the fullness and length you want. I started with the 4ft long Evergreen branch on the bottom, then added a layer of Pine on top (as seen below).
2.Technically, using floral wire to secure the branches together is the best and strongest choice; however, I didn't have that on hand- so I just used twine and tied knots in multiple areas to keep the branches secure.
3.Once I have a few big branches tied together, I then tie it to my railing with twine.
4. Once the garland is tied to the railing, then I go back and add smaller branches and accents accordingly. Doing it this way allows me to hide the twine I used to tie everything together in the center and also allows me to fill in gaps.
You can see in my pictures above, I had to add length to the top and bottom of the garland once I mounted the foundation piece it to the railing. I simply just weaved the smaller branches of evergreen and pine into the other stems/branches and stuck the berries in where I thought it could use some color.
That's it! It took me about 30 minutes from starting until it was completely finished and hanging on the railing.
Do you like these types of posts? If so, like and comment on what DIY posts you'd be interested in!