Today's a big day for us - we're sharing our first guest post ever! Today you're going to hear from our super adorable and awesome friend
Madeline! She made some amazing holiday garlands that you're going to want in your home ASAP. So grab a drink, a few chocolates, and spend Galentine's Day making your home as cute as can be. Okay, take it away, Maddy!
Hi! My name is Madeline and I’m Sarah and Nick’s real life
friend. I say it that way because at one point, Sarah and I were mere internet
friends. The horror! It was a biggg step to go to that next level of
friendship, but we did it! Yay! Sarah and I bonded over music, beer, and
crafts…probably our three favorite things. I wanted to stop by to give you a
little look into my crafty little world in Lancaster, PA! I hope you enjoy this
guest post. Cheers!
Decorating for the holidays. Something I always want to do,
but I’m not willing to spend a ton of money on doing. A Christmas tree? Yes. A
million hearts and wreaths and cutesy items? Not so much. Though, admittedly, I
do love cutesy items. So instead, I decided to make a few garlands that I could
reuse for other holidays or events. And I’m game for anything involving felt,
so here you go!
Felt Bead Garland
The top garland is a felted necklace I was eying up for a
while and eventually purchased from
Paper Source.
I was constantly looking for felted beads/balls and always disappointed at how
expensive they were. I was also not happy about wool prices and how much effort
is involved in making felted wool balls. So, I purchased this necklace for
$12.95, deconstructed it and reconstructed it into one long strand using a needle and thread. I love this
and will definitely be leaving it up for a long time (read: forever).
Felt Strip Garland
The middle garland is an
Anthropologie-inspired piece.
Again, it’s made out of felt, so creating this myself was a no-brainer.
What you’ll need:
- Felt (I used 8 different colors)
- Scissors
- Needle
- Embroidery Floss
What you'll do:
- Cut each piece of felt into little strips. Don’t be afraid
to cut them all different widths and lengths. It adds some interesting
character to the garland.
- Now it’s time to start stringing them together. I like to
pinch each one in half and thread the needle through twice, like this…
- So, after you thread a bunch, your garland will start
looking like this.
- Keep going until it’s your desired length. Mine is an arm’s
length and a half, which didn’t take too long to string.
"XOXO" Garland
Now, the third garland, xoxoxo, is my favorite!
What you’ll need:
- Felt
- Scissors
- Needle
- Embroidery Floss
- Printed Letters (I found
these on Pinterest,
and I thought they’d be perfect for this project. I clearly just used the “x”
and the “o,” but you can spell out whatever you’d like!)
What you'll do:
- I cut out each letter
and traced them onto felt. Again, I used several different colors.
Cut out each letter and lay them out in a color order you
like best.
- Now it’s time to string them together. I used one little loop
through both letters to secure them together. Here you can see me sewing them
together in my sweatpanted craftland glory.
- Once you have sewed each letter to its neighbor, add a loop
of thread to each end for easy hanging. And then, hang ‘em all up, take a step back and admire your
gorgeous garlands.
I think the layered look is so great and festive. Throw in a
string of lights if you’re feeling wild! I’m planning on making a couple more lettered garlands in the (very) near future. The world is my oyster, ya
know? I hope you enjoyed getting a little peek into my mantel area and how I
like to decorate it!
Madeline + (Sarah & Nick)
