Making Christmas Garlands Homemade Christmas garlands are easy to make! The same technique is used for artificial and live garlands. Homemade Christmas crafts are not only fun, but in some cases, become family heirlooms. What You Will Need
Start by laying your garland out. Decide where you are going to put the finished piece and measure out that you have enough. Whether you are working with artificial garland or live garland, fluff up it up. Do this by separating the needles or any part that is smashed. Gently pull the stems apart. Next, put your lights in. You may use battery operated lights or lights that need to be plugged in. Think about where you are going to put your garland. Will there be a outlet available? If so, make sure that the plug starts at the end that will be closest to you outlet. Weave your lights throughout your garland. Gently twist the lights around some needles so that the lights are held in place. Next, you will put your ribbon in. We like to use ribbon that has wire on both edges. This kind of ribbon is easy to shape and hold in place. Tie one end of the ribbon to some needles at one end of your garland. Then you want to make big loops of ribbon and periodically twist the ribbon into your garland. When adhering your ribbon to the garland, take a single strand of needles and twist it around the ribbon. Twist at the base of the needles. Secure the ribbon to the garland about every 12 -15 inches. Be generous with your ribbon. We encourage you not to use cheap ribbon. (A good quality ribbon will add immeasureably to the finished garland.) Loops and twist add a great deal to the finished Christmas garlands! You can add bows to your garland if you like. Next, cut several strips of floral wire. Cut them in 6 inch lengths. Now, take 2-3 ornaments and wire them together. Then take those wired ornaments and attach them to your garland. Place the ornaments where you want them, twist the wire around the garland. The more ornaments the better! You can even take floral wire, cut it into 15 inch strips and wrap it around pinecones. Then wire the pinecones into your garland. When you are happy with your decorated garland, it is time to hang it up! You may attach it to a banister with wire, lay it on a mantel or lay it down the center of a table. If you want to cover an archway, use a cup hook at the top of the arch. Put the center of your garland over the cup hook. Then hammer in small staight nails (about every 12 inches) around the archway. As you pull the garland to the edges of the archway, take a needle that is close to the nail and wrap it around each of the nails. This will secure your Christmas garlands to archways! If you make artificial christmas garlands, you may store them in large hard containers and use them year after year. Garlands can be used any time of the year and for any occassion. If you pick your ornaments up after the Christmas season, you can make these garlands very inexpensively. Your ribbon and ornaments will give it a theme all of its own! These are also great boutique crafts...they sell well if they are made with quality supplies.
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Floral wire...22 gauge
