Gorgeous Garlands You Can DIY This Holiday Season

You don’t want the same holiday decor that all your neighbors have. Doing a DIY holiday project sounds like great fun, but between buying presents and planning when you’ll attend all those holiday parties, you don’t have a lot of extra time for crafts. These four garland ideas are simple and won’t take too much time. Some of them will be fun to do with the kids, while others are great for an afternoon spent alone with a mug of hot cocoa and your favorite holiday movie.

Painted Pinecones

Take an outdoor hike to pick up the prettiest pinecones in your area. If pinecones aren’t native to where you live, head to the craft store and buy them in a bag. Get some acrylic paint in red, green, gold, silver, or whatever other festive Christmas colors you want. Lay down some newspaper, and then dip the top parts of the pinecones in the paint. Let them drip dry over the newspaper. Then simply attach them to string or twine, and you have an outdoorsy, festive pinecone garland. Intersperse some plain pinecones in the mix if you want a muted look.

Pine and Ribbons

This one is super easy, but it looks impressively festive and very elegant. Start with a long string of your favorite pine bough Christmas garland. It can be real if you want to enhance the pine scent wafting from your tree. Fake ones look just as pretty, and they won’t drop needles everywhere. Then cut long strands of red velvet Christmas ribbon. Tie them into big, fancy bows with long, trailing ends. Then pop those bows onto the garland after it’s hung. Voilà.

Lighted Ping Pong Balls

Start with a strand of your favorite Christmas lights. Your best bet is to go with the red, green, and white ones you’ll find on Christmas Lights Etc. These look the most festive once you’re finished. Then, get a bunch of ping pong balls. You’ll need several packages, because you’ll want one ping pong ball per light on your strand. Using an X-Acto knife, cut a little X shape in the side of a ping pong ball. Slip it onto the light so that it rests on the base. If it doesn’t stay put, dab a bit of hot glue on the ping pong ball where it meets the base of the light. When you plug the lights in, the ping pong balls create an ethereal glow.

Paper Chains

Creating a paper chain out of simple paper loops looks a little juvenile. Upgrade the look to something crafty and cute with 3-D paper balls. The Cheese Thief has a fantastic tutorial on how to make these adorable little paper ornaments. Then, using a yarn needle, thread the balls onto string or yarn. You can thread beads or popcorn onto the string between the paper ornaments to keep them separate.

Try a different garland for each room, or get creative with one until you have the perfect piece of Christmas decor. This way you know you’ll have unique holiday cheer throughout your home!