On Sunday, I finally had a chance to test out my proposed circle garland from here which I found on Pinterest while Jameson napped!

Early last week, I went to Home Depot and stole acquired some paint sample papers. I was convinced that this would be the best, cheapest (read: free) method for creating a decorative garland for Jameson’s birthday. Midway through acquiring the samples, I realized they only had color on one side and I’d have to glue two sides together.

That’s okay, it ended up being kind of an awesome feature of my garland.

My favorite thing about this garland is that I didn’t need to use the sewing machine. I originally thought I would follow the same method shown here, but realized I would probably spend more time threading the sewing machine and unraveling jams because of the thickness of my glued-together-circles.

I didn’t want to deal with it. I mean, I know you get better with more practice, but… for a project like this, I didn’t want anything too time consuming.

Instead, I followed this method (or lack there of, since this is as easy as it gets)

Supplies:

• shape puncher (particularly cool when you have two sizes)
• paper (or paint samples)
• glue stick
• needle and thread

A couple quick notes: if you’re doing the needle and thread method, I think stiffer paper works the best (or in my case, two papers glued together). Also, this method tangles very easily, so I have my finished garland on a hanger in the closet until the big day.

Aside from a little hand cramping, this was really easy.

I punched out some circles. I randomly (and sloppily) glued them together (because the needle and thread will really hold them together, so don’t stress over the glue).

Each side was a subtly different shade of blue, with a jolt of green or darker blue every foot or so. I strung them together with needle and basic white thread.

I’ve only made about 6 feet of garland, and have decided that one more garland for a total of 12 feet will be ideal for my each of my lights. It’s just a little sparse right now.

Total time spent: Jameson’s nap, which was a little longer than usual 😉 about 2 hours for one garland, but I think I’ll get quicker as I go along.

Total money spent: Free, assuming you have a shape puncher already.