Kid Created Christmas Ornaments: Christmas Garland

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This week, we have Kid Created Christmas Ornaments: Christmas Garlands to hang on the tree. These garlands are eye-catching, yet simple to complete. They are reminiscent of the old fashioned cranberry garlands, but with a modern twist. My children really had a fun time making these garlands. They look amazing on my Christmas tree. They are also an ornament I can let the baby jingle without the fear of the jingling breaking the ornament. And, added bonus, we all got a good fine motor skills work out making them.

Supplies for one garland:
6 to 9 feet of landscaping twine
1 hand sewing needle with a large eye (blunt tip recommended for little hands)
4 yards of wired Christmas craft ribbon (3 inches width is recommended) tied into 8 bows
8 Jingle bells
8 large red beads
or
8 large pompoms
or
8 large Christmas buttons

So, here’s how to make them:

First, chew on the end of the twine to soften it enough to squish through the needle. (This is really necessary, I promise.) Then thread the needle. Only pull about two inches of the twine through the eye of the needle. I would recommend finding a thin place of the twine when cutting the length. This will also make it easier to thread the needle.

Next, decide what pattern you want to create to thread the decorations onto the twine.

Then, start threading the decorations on the thread. The pompoms are the most difficult to pull the twine through, so adult help might be needed. Also, when threading the bows, don’t pierce the fabric – just work the needle through the back of the bow.

Leave between four and six inches between each decoration on the garland.  The twine will fray a little as it passes through the decorations. This is actually part of the beauty of the garland, so don’t worry about it fraying.

Also, it’s important to tie knots to keep the decorations in place. With the beads, we tied a knot in front of the bead, and immediately behind the bead. With the jingle bells, we tied the knot over the back of the jingle bell. We also tied the twine behind the back of the bows. We tied the buttons any way the buttons would let us – they were a bit tricky to get tied. And the pompoms were tied with a knot on the back of it as well.

We let our children pick which decorations to use for their garlands. Our girls both picked bows, jingle bells, and beads. Our boys both picked buttons, beads, and jingle bells. They all enjoyed stringing the decorations on to the twine. Mom and Dad needed to help our preschooler and Kindergartener tie their knots. And sometimes, we had to use our muscle to help some of the decorations on to the twine for our second and fourth grader too.  But other than minor assistance from us, the garlands were easily created by our fantastic crew of kids.