A Little Christmas Garland

<div style="text-align: center;"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsItdxAsqImrUj-eVciwArYQ7OZoyxQm2s0Le-4G0_XveQi2_h95ajpQrhwEYP_IktJ3ZFRvfoxcELf0iVMPn8iuaDNcPH_RrnEQDDyqLrbOyGnCGaPZJo7oddfqb88lVeBUbeViazJo/s1600/ornament+garland3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Christmas garland, garland, DIY garland, ornaments" border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsItdxAsqImrUj-eVciwArYQ7OZoyxQm2s0Le-4G0_XveQi2_h95ajpQrhwEYP_IktJ3ZFRvfoxcELf0iVMPn8iuaDNcPH_RrnEQDDyqLrbOyGnCGaPZJo7oddfqb88lVeBUbeViazJo/s320/ornament+garland3.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></em></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><em>I KNOW!</em> Most people wait until after Thanksgiving before they decorate for Christmas, but I just can't help myself! <br /><br />Not only have we strung some lights on the front porch - we built an outdoor Christmas tree for our front yard (<a href="http://happyhouseandhome.blogspot.com/2013/11/making-outdoor-christmas-tree.html">tutorial here</a>), we put a small artificial tree in the kitchen, I made a couple of wreaths, <em>AND</em> I made a couple of easy garlands. <br /><br />I won't bore you with all of the details, but I will show you my favorite garland. Cuz it's so easy and cute. <br /><br />The garland I like the best is simple. I found a box of 36 x 2" gold ornaments at Big Lots for $4. I took a roll of twine and just threaded the ornaments on. Every 6 inches I knotted the twine just to keep the ornaments from moving around too much. <br /><br /><em>(If you want to make something similar, I had to put a dab of hot glue on the end of the twine, </em><br /><em>and twist it, to keep it from fraying when I threaded it through. Yes, it burns a little, but who needs finger prints?)</em><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbBlasirENfEEHUdE_7kAeVN1NuhE1eseuc8F3QY1jO91l94O4n66df7szlejfxDCzE5p1UlKO7zDpedAhnP-UYsqb6X6fpK-rCD6_qZ6UNY6LIII24hn03juvk5D3MCRNd0cbmQmCKy8/s1600/ornament+garland2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbBlasirENfEEHUdE_7kAeVN1NuhE1eseuc8F3QY1jO91l94O4n66df7szlejfxDCzE5p1UlKO7zDpedAhnP-UYsqb6X6fpK-rCD6_qZ6UNY6LIII24hn03juvk5D3MCRNd0cbmQmCKy8/s320/ornament+garland2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nearer Christmas (or at least after Thanksgiving) I may "bling up" this little garland a little, but for now I like the rustic look. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsItdxAsqImrUj-eVciwArYQ7OZoyxQm2s0Le-4G0_XveQi2_h95ajpQrhwEYP_IktJ3ZFRvfoxcELf0iVMPn8iuaDNcPH_RrnEQDDyqLrbOyGnCGaPZJo7oddfqb88lVeBUbeViazJo/s1600/ornament+garland3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIsItdxAsqImrUj-eVciwArYQ7OZoyxQm2s0Le-4G0_XveQi2_h95ajpQrhwEYP_IktJ3ZFRvfoxcELf0iVMPn8iuaDNcPH_RrnEQDDyqLrbOyGnCGaPZJo7oddfqb88lVeBUbeViazJo/s320/ornament+garland3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And, now that Thanksgiving is only a day away, it's safe to say I'll be decorating quite a bit more this coming weekend. Especially since we're all going out to the woods to get a tree on Sunday, <em>AND</em>, more importantly, Big A bought some Egg Nog! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a rule that you decorate for Christmas if you have egg nog in the house, isn't it? That's what I thought. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What about you? Have you started decorating for Christmas yet? </div>

A Little Christmas Garland

  I KNOW! Most people wait until after Thanksgiving before they decorate for Christmas, but I just can't help myself! Not only have we ...

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Fabric Garland

<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84sCRwhsm_XD_76CTj44gugflUWEM_FYnxsSL7faAGfnppVL5ZuBCppRfzgjDHXFcanjltzcsmyTZPD5R7gLBSxeLVDcPpQYEzG3lkEKlr1_ClahHKhCYZZSkuDOiukaC5-Iot80BWnY/s1600/fabric+garland1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="fabric strips, crafts, DIY garland, fabric strip garland" border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84sCRwhsm_XD_76CTj44gugflUWEM_FYnxsSL7faAGfnppVL5ZuBCppRfzgjDHXFcanjltzcsmyTZPD5R7gLBSxeLVDcPpQYEzG3lkEKlr1_ClahHKhCYZZSkuDOiukaC5-Iot80BWnY/s320/fabric+garland1.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><br />Big A and I have been working on a rather large project. In fact, it measures 10 feet tall. It's led to quite a few swear words, some maniacal laughter, and blood. Despite all of that, in the end, we won! <br /><br />But I can't show you that yet. I need a couple of days grace period to get all the pictures up and, quite frankly, to have Big A to sit down and tell me the real names of the tools and parts we used. Otherwise, my post would give you a tool/parts list like this:<br /><br />Bendy Thing<br />Nuts<br />Poles<br />Metal Slicer<br /><br />See what I mean? We need him.<br /><br />SO, until tomorrow, I am going to show you one little thing I've been working on. <em>("Working</em> <em>on</em>" may be too strong of a phrase - perhaps I should say<em> "puttering</em> <em>with</em>".) <br /><br />A few weeks ago, I made a fabric scrap valance (tutorial <a href="http://happyhouseandhome.blogspot.com/2013/10/diy-fabric-strip-valance.html">HERE</a>) for our double doors to the back yard. I really loved the look of it:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnjPMmG1k_FMhT3wdfQEHNaFSe3OTNOCxfmYvu0XepuCFMIwXO64jBzZckCpvzI_5RbFEm-lD6IX_3k4QBSP52lOjqHVUIfX4O4DccXhYvlpzARiUe_3eDrX7fJp2enRTS9cR3rAXgrbs/s1600/fabric+valance1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnjPMmG1k_FMhT3wdfQEHNaFSe3OTNOCxfmYvu0XepuCFMIwXO64jBzZckCpvzI_5RbFEm-lD6IX_3k4QBSP52lOjqHVUIfX4O4DccXhYvlpzARiUe_3eDrX7fJp2enRTS9cR3rAXgrbs/s320/fabric+valance1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But then I decided I didn't like the rigidity of the tension rod with the rustic look of the fabric. So I strung all of the fabric strips onto jute twine and re-hung it as a banner. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84sCRwhsm_XD_76CTj44gugflUWEM_FYnxsSL7faAGfnppVL5ZuBCppRfzgjDHXFcanjltzcsmyTZPD5R7gLBSxeLVDcPpQYEzG3lkEKlr1_ClahHKhCYZZSkuDOiukaC5-Iot80BWnY/s1600/fabric+garland1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj84sCRwhsm_XD_76CTj44gugflUWEM_FYnxsSL7faAGfnppVL5ZuBCppRfzgjDHXFcanjltzcsmyTZPD5R7gLBSxeLVDcPpQYEzG3lkEKlr1_ClahHKhCYZZSkuDOiukaC5-Iot80BWnY/s320/fabric+garland1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />Much better! I prefer the garland. What do you think? <br /><br />Tomorrow I'll be back to post about our larger adventure! Until then! Julia<br /><br />

Fabric Garland

 Big A and I have been working on a rather large project. In fact, it measures 10 feet tall. It's led to quite a few swear words, some ...

Read more »