Making a Festive Garland

 I made a fun garland for my Valentine's brunch the other day but you can really use any colors and make it for any time of year.  Garlands are inexpensive, relatively easy to make (unless you try to take a short cut like I did--see below) and add a lot of punch to any decorations.  The whole thing cost me less than $4.

I bought 6 sheets of 12" x12" card stock in varying shades of red to fuchsia.  Then I took out my ink nib and pot of ink and went to town doodling and scribbling all over each sheet of paper.  After they dried I turned them over and did the same thing on the other side.   Now, you could easily use a big fat Sharpie as well but I really like the look of the pen and ink and it really didn't take that long. 

Then I used a 1 1/2"  punch and punched out my dots.  I punched out the perimeter first and then cut off those bits and punched out the center, etc.  I ended up with about 200 circles.

Finally, you need some ribbon to attach these to.  On past garlands I use a little thicker ribbon and sew all down the length of it, adding a circle every 5-6".  But this time I bought a little too skinny ribbon and I knew it would take a long time to sew along it without breaking the thread so I decided to be a clever monkey and staple them to the ribbon.  Bad idea!!!!!  First, I nearly gave myself carpal tunnel  squeezing that stupid stapler 200 times and second, the ribbons immediately get tangled upon one another the instant they even barely touch.  What I should have posted was a photo of my husband patiently untangling 6 different lines of garland for 1/2 hour. 

See, I should have just done it the correct way to begin with.  But I am not throwing them out.  I am wrapping each one individually around a piece of cardboard to stop the tangling issue.  But be smart and sew them and save yourself the hassle!