If you are looking for a budget-friendly way to decorate your home this Christmas, why not try making your own DIY Christmas garland? It’s easy to do and it can add some extra holiday cheer to any room and help you create your dream Christmas tree!
Learn how to make a Christmas garland with baubles, greenery and other decorations. I will also share some of my favourite tips for decorating with Christmas garland around your home. You may just find yourself addicted!
How To Make A Christmas Garland
Making a Christmas garland with baubles is so simple. In fact, I am going to show you 3 different methods that all look incredible when decorating your home and Christmas tree for the holiday season.
A Christmas garland decoration can be made in no time with just a few supplies and it can make your home look extra festive.
Best of all, you can make your own beautiful Christmas garland at a fraction of the cost of most department stores.
Making a homemade Christmas garland is the perfect way to decorate your home in the way that you love. This is why I am giving you a few different homemade Christmas garland ideas.
How To Make A Bauble Garland Tutorial Video
What You Need To Make a DIY Christmas Garland
When making a homemade Christmas garland, there are only a few essential materials that you need.
- Baubles or other Christmas decorations
- Greenery
- Twine, wire or ribbon (any of these will work)
- Scissors
- Wire cutters (optional if using wire)
How To Make Christmas Garlands
Over the years I have experimented with a few different types of Christmas garlands for decorating our tree and our home. The reason I love them so much is how they can transform a space so dramatically with holiday cheer.
You can decorate your tree or other areas of your home using garlands, often in no time at all!
But there are many different ways to create your own holiday garland. Here are a few different DIY Christmas garland tutorials to help you create your own:
Method 1: Bauble Garland
If you want bright and cheerful holiday decor, a bauble garland is a great way to add pops of colour around your home. With this type of garland, you don’t need any greenery. Just lots of baubles!
To make a bauble garland you will need a lot of Christmas baubles in different sizes and colours and something to string your baubles onto.
If you are planning to hang your bauble garland around your home, using a thin wire might be the best option to ensure it is strong enough to hold the weight of your baubles over time. If you are planning to wrap your garland around your tree, twine or ribbon are fine!
Simply thread the baubles onto twine, ribbon or wire using your baubles of mixed sizes and colours. Once complete, make sure both ends are secure and decorate with your garland.
Bauble Garland Tips:
- If using wire, create loops at each end so that you can hang from hooks or via ribbon around your home.
- Your local dollar store or discount variety store is a great place to get bulk baubles in different sizes and colours.
- If using to decorate your tree, consider making 2 or 3 shorter garlands rather than one really long one as they will be easier to store and you can easily hide the ends within the tree branches to make it look like one single garland.
Method 2: Bauble Garland With Greenery
Greenery garlands are perfect for a more rustic look. They are also beautiful for decorating shelves, walls, staircases and doorways.
This type of DIY garland is created in the same way as the bauble garland, then twisted around a length of greenery.
You will need a long section of greenery for this type of garland. Of course, you can use a real garland but if you want a DIY decoration you can reuse each year, an artificial garland is perfect for this.
The type you use will depend on your preferences, whether you want a really bushy pine garland or a more modern and simple holly or eucalyptus leaf garland (for a very Aussie Christmas).
You can get plain garlands at most discount variety stores or craft stores around Christmas time as well as online. The ones I am using are a mix of Kmart Australia, AliExpress and Amazon.
You will also need baubles, wire, ribbon or twine and scissors, as above.
Follow the instructions to make a bauble garland then twist your bauble garland around your greenery. Secure this at each end of the greenery.
You may also need to secure in a few places along the length to give it some extra support. You can do this with zip ties that are cut off or by using small sections of wire twisted around the greenery stem.
Greenery Garland Tips:
- Add extra festive touches by adding pinecones, holly berry sprigs and other decorations between your baubles.
- Allow a little more space between baubles compared to when making a garland just with baubles. This will allow you to twist around the greenery without causing your baubles to pop off.
- Twist your bauble garland tightly around your greenery if you want to avoid the string or ribbon being visible.
Method 3: Greenery Garland With Bauble Clusters
This type of garland is perfect if you want to use fewer baubles but still add a pop of colour along your greenery garland.
This is the type of garland I use on top of shelves and anywhere that I want to hang my garlands as it is much lighter without as many baubles. You can also change out the baubles easily each year if you want to change your holiday colour schemes.
To make this type of DIY garland, you will need the same supplies as for the greenery garland (greenery, wire, ribbon or twine and baubles) but with far fewer baubles.
Create clusters of 3-7 baubles (or however many you want to add to create the perfect look for your clusters) on sections of ribbon, wire or twine. Secure the clusters by tying them off.
The size of your baubles will depend on how many you want to use. Smaller baubles might need a few more to achieve the full look you want.
Attach bauble clusters at regular intervals along your faux Christmas garland or natural garland to add pops of colour. You can also add in other decorations such as sprigs of holly leaves and red berries, pine cones, fairy lights, poinsettia flowers and gold or red bows until you have the perfect look.
Cluster Garland Tips:
- A cluster garland is the best option if you are looking for a garland to hang from walls, doorframes or staircases as it is much lighter than the other two handmade Christmas garlands.
- Your clusters can be as close or as spaced out as you like.
- Decorating your tree with clusters will give your Christmas tree a fuller look also compared to using individual ornaments.
- Pipe cleaners also work great for creating ornament clusters.
How To Hang Christmas Garlands On Walls
If you are planning to hang your garland on walls, doorframes or staircases, you will need to attach something secure like a hook or nail. You can also use command hooks to hang your garland without causing any damage to walls.
Then simply attach the greenery garland by looping it around the hook or nail and securing it with either wire, ribbon or zip ties. Make sure you secure at both ends, as well as in between if the garland is quite heavy or long.
Make sure the command hooks you use are strong enough to suit the weight of your garland. You don’t want to damage your home.
It is also worth using wire or a stronger option vs twine when hanging outdoors or from walls, as twine may not last as long or withstand the weight.
Decorating With Christmas Garland
Now that know how to make a Christmas garland with baubles, how can you make the most of your handmade decorations?
Christmas garlands are perfect for decorating doorways and staircases, shelves and mantelpieces, the front porch, trees and more!
It is a great way to add a special festive touch to any space in your home, office or entertaining areas this Christmas.
If used on a Christmas tree, a simple bauble garland can be perfect for looping around your tree to make your decorations look much more full.
However, a greenery garland can also look amazing on a Christmas tree. Aim to match the greenery colour to your tree colour for a more natural look. This is a perfect way to make a sparse tree look more full.
You can also add string lights to your DIY garland as a simple way of adding Christmas lights to your tree or other areas of the home. This way they won’t end up tangled in your tree since they are already entwined around your homemade garland.
Garlands look great on a fireplace mantel and on shelving units, with candles and other festive items.
If used for a door frame or staircase, consider what options you have for hanging your garland that won’t damage your home.
This is also where it can be worthwhile considering the weight of your faux garland too, and whether switching to a lighter option will be best for the space you are decorating. The last thing you want is to damage your walls.
Live greenery will make your home smell amazing adding to the Christmas spirit in your home.
If you don’t have ribbon, twine or wire, you can also use fishing line out of hubby’s tackle box!
Creating really long bauble garlands can get expensive as they do require a lot of baubles if you are planning to decorate large spaces. Shop for plastic ornaments at discount variety stores or plan ahead early and order from online suppliers such as AliExpress.
You can also shop the after-Christmas sales and grab some cheap for next year too!
Storing Your Christmas Garlands
After the Christmas season comes to an end, you might be wondering how to store your garland for next year.
Large storage tubs with lids are a great option for storing Christmas decorations so that they stay protected and aren’t exposed to the elements throughout the rest of the year.
If you don’t have the space for the tubs, you can also carefully wrap your beautiful garland in an old sheet or bubble wrap and then store it inside a large bag in a closet or the garage. This will help prevent it from getting damaged and also avoid it from becoming too tangled between use.
If storing for a long period of time, make sure you inspect it for any wear and tear at the beginning of each season, such as making sure your twine or ribbon is still looking strong or using a hot glue gun to re-affix any baubles that have popped out of their hooks.
This way you can make sure that the garland will be ready to hang when Christmas comes around again.
Hopefully, this has given you the inspiration and tips you need to make your very own handmade Christmas garland. With just a few simple supplies, you can create a beautiful DIY holiday decoration that will be admired for years to come. So go ahead and get creative!
I hope you have fun making your own DIY bauble garland this festive season!
For more Christmas crafts and decorating ideas:
