Simply Festive DIY Christmas Garland

Okay, I know everyone gets really weird about decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but as a family, we’ve just decided we are early decorators and that’s that. I think maybe it has something to do with both of us loving design so much and always loving any excuse to reorganize and redecorate. Plus, both of our birthdays are in December, we usually go on a trip, and we are in ministry...so December is honestly a blur most years. So, why not have a bit more time to celebrate and enjoy the season?!

Quite honestly, we began decorating early November, and I have zero regrets about that. It gave me more time to be inspired and actually finish DIY projects instead of just dreaming about them and never actually getting to them. I am actually proud of myself for flexing the DIY muscles a bit more this year, so I will share my favorite ones with you!

My first and most favorite DIY Christmas project this year has been GARLANDS! If you know me, you know how much I love fresh greenery (everywhere all the time, thanks). So, garlands are just a gorgeous excuse to put fresh greenery literally all over the house. Since I only like the fresh garlands, my options for store-bought are scarce and don’t come out until after Thanksgiving (which doesn’t fend well for early decorators), so I opted to make my own this year. And you know what?

IT WAS ACTUALLY EASY

Yep, I said it. A DIY project that is for real easy, not just titled easy and ends up being stupid hard and expensive. This is an inexpensive, amazing little project that everyone should try this season!

What You Need:

• Fresh evergreen trees to forage (I suggest cedar, magnolia, holly, spruce, or boxwood)

• 8 or 9 ft. fake wire Garland with wire branches (I got mine from Target)

• Green wire OR nails & hammer (depending on how/where you hang it)

• Sharp pruning shears

• Work gloves (to protect your pretty hands from pricklies)

Process:

1. Forage your greenery. Get more than you think you need. You can cut large branches and trim them down to smaller pieces later. Try to get at least 2-3 varieties for your garland, but make sure you have a large base of one type (I chose cedar, to no one’s surprise ;).

2. Once you have all your greenery foraged, put on your gloves and use your pruning shears to trim down your pieces to little bundles. I would say the smaller pieces should be about a foot long each approximately. This makes attaching the greens easier and makes it look fuller.

3. Now that your greens are all ready to go, you need to prep your fake wire garland by spreading out every “branch” to each side so that they are all laid out on either side. These will be the “ties” you use to fasten each bundle of greenery to the garland.

4. Once every wire branch in the garland is facing out, you can start fastening your fresh greenery! I suggest putting 3-4 pieces together in a bundle (with varied greens) and attach it with the wire branches like zip ties. Twist each bundle in 2 times to make sure it is secure.

Side Note: If you are using magnolia, I would say only use it every 2-3 bundles since it is so large and can sort of take over the garland.

5. Layering the bundles a bit on top of one another (about 4-5 inches apart) gives the garland a luscious, full look. I like mine to look super full.

6. Once you’ve attached greenery all the way down and are happy with how it looks, use green wire or nails to attach to your spot of choice!

Side Note: Fresh garlands look amazing on porches, banisters, mantles, and even above your favorite arches and windows in your home!

I have already made three of these easy garlands, and plan on making a few more. That’s how simple it is! Happy Christmas crafting, dears!

xoxo,

Annaliese