So I Wanted a Long Garland for My Living Room
Okay, saw this fancy long garland in a magazine. Looked expensive. Thought, “Hey, I can totally make that myself!” Found a “beginners easy DIY” idea online. Sounded simple enough. Grabbed my coffee this morning and decided to dive in.
First thing I did was gather stuff:
- Old magazines and colored paper scraps I had lying around
- Some thin yarn I found buried in a drawer
- Scissors – obviously
- A ruler that wasn’t too bent
- That clear tape roll with not much left on it
Didn’t need anything fancy. Threw the paper pile on the kitchen table. Cut my finger trying to open the tape roll first thing. Classic.
Getting Started Was a Bit Messy
Sat down. Took a deep breath. Flipped through the magazines for colorful pages. Started cutting strips – maybe 2 inches wide? Sort of eyeballed it. Didn’t measure every single one. Some were fat, some were skinny. Made a giant stack of colored strips. Floor looked like a confetti bomb went off.
Watched a little bit of how they folded the strips in the tutorial. It looked like loops. Held one strip, folded the ends together, taped them into a circle. Seemed easy. Did about ten that way. Then poked my finger putting tape on one. Gave up on perfection quick.
Stringing it Up Made Me Sweat
Measured the yarn. Wanted the garland to stretch pretty far, cut a long piece. Way longer than I needed. Better too long than too short, right? Threaded the yarn through a big needle. Poked the needle through each paper loop. Started sliding them down the yarn.
This is where things got frustrating. The loops kept falling off the other end! Had to grab the end of the yarn, hold it tight while threading. My coffee got cold while I wrestled with yarn and paper. Slid the loops along, tried spacing them kind of even. Mostly just squeezed them together.
Got near the end. Ran out of yarn way before the end! Thought I had plenty. Had to cut more yarn, tie the old piece to the new one. Made a huge knot. Looks ugly, but oh well. Hid it with a loop.
Hanging the Thing Was Its Own Adventure
Took my creation. Draped it over the curtain rod. Looked… well… kinda limp. And way shorter than I planned. Must have miscounted my loops. Also, half the loops were backwards, showing the boring white paper backside.
Ugh. Took it down again. Poked my thumb flipping loops around to show the color. Pushed them closer together to make it look longer. Found some command hooks – stuck them up on the wall instead. Pulled the garland tight between them. Looked better! Not magazine-perfect, but passable.
Final Thoughts? It’s Messy But Mine
My hand felt cramped. Tiny paper cuts stung. Little paper bits everywhere. BUT! Made a long garland myself. It’s lopsided. The colors clash a bit. But it’s cheerful. Total cost was basically zero. Took a few hours, mostly because I kept messing up.
For real beginners, don’t worry about perfect shapes or even spacing. Grab whatever paper you have. Embrace the chaos. Tape is your friend when loops slip. Making it long means cutting LOTS of strips. More than you think. And make the yarn SUPER long – tying knots sucks.
Would I do it again? Yeah, probably. Maybe try fabric strips next time? Paper is fiddly. But hey, it’s done!