Custom Party Garland

This is the second posting for my series on how to make your own
custom party decorations

based on what I made for my daughters first birthday.

I hope these posts will inspire you to make some one of a kind decorations for your next party!

Here are the simple steps for how to make your own

unique party garland.

 

Once you see how easy this is, you will be recreating this project in an infinite number of ways to decorate all your parties!

Here is the list of all the supplies you’ll need:

Ribbon

Paper that matches your theme

Glue stick

Scissors (or Cricut Machine)

Exacto knife (optional)

{A note on the Ribbon:

I love the $0.50 spools of 1/8” and 1/4" wide ribbon from Michael’s because it’s cheap and comes in great colors. You might as well buy a bunch of these because they can be used in so many ways!}

Next you will need to cut out the shapes that will form the garlands.

I used my mom’s Cricut Expression machine, which allowed me to get very precise cutouts in very little time. But you can achieve similar results with a pair of scissors and a steady hand.

Since the garland will be two sided you will need to cut out twice as many shapes.

Once you have your shapes cut out you’ll need to cut the ribbon to the right lengths for each area you will be hanging the garland.

It does not need to be exact, and I would even recommend adding a foot or so onto each length so you can have some wiggle room once it’s time to hang.

Here are the simple steps to building the garland:

Starting from one end lay the ribbon across one of the shapes

Note: I have the flower right side up so it will show up against my white table top. You’ll want to make sure to glue the ribbon on the back side.

Cover back of shape and ribbon with glue

Align matching shape and apply pressure

Once the two shapes are glued together, you might want to place each of these under something a little heavy to make sure the glue bonds.

Continue this process for the length of ribbon.

As for the spacing for the shapes…

I was not too worried about the spacing being exact, but if you do want it to be precise I would recommend marking the spacing on the ribbon before you start adding the shapes so you can guarantee they are uniform.

Once you have the garlands made, and the glue is all dried you can hang them up around your house/event and rake in the compliments!

{Tip for hanging directly onto the wall:

Since the garland will be very light weight I would recommend using straight pins out of your sewing kit to hang directly into the drywall. The holes will be very tiny, and you can even paint the ball on the end to match your ribbon!}

Isn’t it amazing how something so simple can add such an impact to a space?

I love it!