Make Your Own Garland

I will admit I love the smell of Christmas greens, mixed with all the other scents of the Holiday season, but I have never taken the time to have or make my own Garland. This year I had a little left over from other projects and made a 12 foot swag just to give it a try. It was quite easy once I got started, I do need a longer table though.

It went quite quickly once I figured out what I was doing, I see this technique as a great way to dry some of my herbs in the growing season, as be decorative at the same time.

Since this piece was only going to last a few weks, I used simple worsted weight knitting yarn, and just twine. I measured out the length I needed and aded just a few inches to allow for tie and loops on the ends.

Then I cut my greenery in 8-inch to 12 inch pieces, I don't like things too uniform. I did use two different types of greenery just for intrest and fullness sake.
Here is a picture of my Finished product.

I started about 4 inches in on my yarn placing just a few pieces of greenery (my sections had three pieces two fraser and one juniper on top)I tied these pieces thru branched sections on the stems to stop slippage. I tied it in a regular know then tied the yarn over and through the piece that connected the greens to it for security. For the next piece I lay the greens just under the tips of the previous piece so I could catch up a tip of the first while tying on, this keeps the greenery from gaping in between sections.
Once you get started it goes quite quickly, just be sure you get a good tight tie on the pieces. Next year I am going to use a floral type wire.
If I am not mistaken on an actual garland table there is a crank that twistes the stems onto a piece of twine with wire. But even if I don't have that piece of equiptment I will be making garland again because it is just such a different look than the artificial we have been using for years. I do know to get an earlier start if I plan to make everything next year and have a great large Real Fraser Fir next year. I can't wait, it's been so long since I have had a real tree in the home, I will have to plan a piece of attractive floor covering to make needle clean up easier.