Making Thanksgiving garland

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Creating one’s own creative Thanksgiving garland for the festive season will definitely spruce up the atmosphere to your house decoration especially on your doorway, mantle or decorate it at your porch. The following tips and ideas will help you accomplish a simple decoration for Thanksgiving theme garland. They Thanksgiving garland can be created easily where you can make use of recycle items or from common plants that you have in your garden.

What you need:

  1. Raffia
  2. Garden Shears
  3. Gardening Gloves
  4. Miniature Pumpkins
  5. Preserved Fall Foliage
  6. Small Gourds, Indian corn, miniature pumpkins, fake autumn leaves and fake berries
  7. Other items that can be use are autumn flowers, petals or colourful beads and ribbon
  8. Garden trimmings (6-inch long) such as juniper, oak, asparagus fern, bay laurel, redwood, cedar, pine or fir
  9. Twine
  10. Paddle Wire
  11. Measuring tape

Method:

  1. First of all you need to measure the area where you want to place the garland and how long you wanted it to be.
  1. Then, you need to lay a 10-foot length string (depends on your measuring of your area you want to place the garland) or twine on a flat area. After that you have to tie one of the string’s ends into a loop and attach the floral wire or paddle wire to the loop end of the string or twine.
  2. The next step is to cut foliage pieces, mix them with different kinds and place them in a bunch with its stems at one end of the twine’s loop end. To ensure that it is secured, you need to wrap the stems with the floral wire.
  3. Repeat the above process with another bunch of foliage which includes preserved fall leaves with its stems overlapping the first bunch which also cover the cut ends. Ensure that all the stems are facing according to the same directions. You have to continue doing the above steps until you run out of string.
  4. When you come to the last bundle, you have to twist the wire tightly, and knot the wire and string together. Make sure to leave at least 12-inches of wire for hanging purpose.
  5. You can add the miniature Indian corn or other items by wiring two ears together using the floral wire and leave a few inches of the wire to enable it to be attached directly onto the garland.
  6. If you are using small pumpkins, you can pierce through it using bamboo skewers and then you need to wire the pumpkins to the garland just by looping wire on the skewer.
  7. Other than that, old panty hose can also be use to put the small gourds. You have to pull the hose tightly around the gourds and the wire it onto the garland. Besides that, you can also attach the fake berry bunches onto the garland with floral wire.

With just a few imaginative ideas, you have already made a simple and cute look self made Thanksgiving garland of your own without the need to purchase a new one. It will definitely look nice when display on your mantel in the living room, hang it on railings of your stairs or even on your children’s bedroom wall. It can also be a gift to your family members who are not staying with you or for your friends.

Additional Reading:
www.ehow.com/how_8633_make-harvest-garland.html
http://www.marthastewart.com/goodthings/fall-garland
http://www.dotcomwomen.com/crafts/thanksgiving/thanksgiving-garland.shtml

Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24225734@N04/3940149024/