Craft This!

I didn't have a lot of money to decorate this year and a reminder from my friend Jaime set in motion this project because you don't need a ton of money to make your place look great (unless you HAVE a ton of cash lying around in which case, Can I have some?) This whole project totaled less than $25, including the Command hooks to hang them on.

Baby Christmas Swags

Makes 4 2ft swags

Equipment:

9ft unlit garland,cut into 4 equal lengths

22 gauge floral wire

strong scissors and/or wire cutters

extra 6-8 inch squares of wrapping paper, 4

a spool of Christmas ribbon, 8ft

Ornaments or picks, 4 similar or the same

a hole puncher, optional but helpful

hot glue gun, if using a non-picked ornament

Step1- Take the first length of garland and fold in half. Cut a length of wire, about 5 inches, and twist around the center of the garland several times, tightening each go around to secure. With the two ends of wire, twist tightly around each other and tuck into the garland ( you don't want the sharp end to stick out and poke you, do you?!) Since this is fake garland, fluff the greenery out to make it nice and even-ish on both sides.

Step 2- With one of the squares of wrapping paper, begin making an accordion fold starting with a small first fold, about a 1/2 inch. Do this all the way to the end of the square, making sure that the last fold has the paper's pattern on the outside; you don't want the white underside to show.

Step 3- Cut the ends of the folded wrapping paper in inverted points; or you can cut them into points, round them off, etc., as long as they look neat. You can tape the back with a small piece of tape to help close the accordion, but its not necessary. In the center, punch or cut a small hole through all the layers of paper.

Step 4- Cut a length of wire about 6 inches again. Bend the wire in the center to make a loose u-shape. Thread the wire through the center hole in the paper. Attach the paper to the garland swag on the front (which ever side you like as the front.) Then turn over and secure the wire by twisting the two ends together, until secure. If you have extra long pieces of wire, you can snip them off and then tuck the end into the garland as before.

Step 5- Cut a 2 ft length of ribbon. Making sure to cover just the center of the paper in the front, bring the ends around to the back and tie in a knot. Cut the ends of the ribbon into inverted points or at even angles. Let the ends hang down the underside of the swag.

Step 6- Turn the swag over to the front and attach your ornament or decoration to the front center. If you have a picked ornament or one with a clasp, just attach to a branch of garland. If you have a regular hanging ornament, attach with a hot glue gun. Lastly, fluff your whole swag pulling out the accordion-ed paper (gently,) making sure your ribbon ends hang evenly, and then hang from a hook on the wall or wherever you find the perfect place in your house!