Friday, December 4, 2015

O Christmas Tree: Make Your Own Ribbon Garland

Beautiful and interesting. Those are the words I think about when I am buying or making Christmas decorations. The "11 Ladies Dancing" ornaments came to me when I traced a Martha Stewart magazine template (for an extending paper garland) and converted it into 11 ballerinas that I could dress in paper gowns. A ribbon at their waist is the perfect place to catch the hook of an ornament hanger.

Since we are spending Christmas in an apartment in Seattle, the majority of my Christmas ornaments are still back in Michigan! I flew some non-breakable ornaments out with me (i.e. dancing ladies) and purchased a collection heart ornaments made of laser cut wood. 

This post, however is meant to highlight the plaid ribbon garland I made. Can you see how it adds a bit of depth and shine. I just love it. I have never made garland before and it was too easy (and effective!) not to mention it to you.

It all started when I attended a church rummage sale in Issaquah this fall. I bought a Ziploc bag full of tiny vintage ball ornaments for 50 cents. Inside there were roughly 60 faded blown glass balls, all about the size of a macadamia nut. I cut 15 lengths of plaid ribbon (two inches long) and threaded 4 ball ornaments onto each one. Then I tied each group of 4 ornaments onto a long length of the same patterned plaid ribbon. It created a beautiful garland with shiny baubles every few inches and the whole project cost less than 5 dollars.

While its not realistic to count on rummage sales, you could easily buy small ornaments at the craft store and create your own version. Deep green velvet ribbon with a mixture of both shiny and dull gold balls; Pastel plaid ribbon with lavender and yellow balls. The options are endless. 

While this was my first custom garland, it won't be my last. I'm having too much fun.

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