This year, I have become slightly obsessed with Christmas garlands! I find that they add such a special little touch to any wall or surface that you fancy displaying them on. I know that Christmas day is only a few days away, but these DIY garlands will honestly take no time at all to make and you'll still get plenty of use out of them this season!

G A R L A N D #1

Dried Orange Slices

You will need:

2 large oranges

String

Needle with a large eye

1. Pre-heat your oven to 100c.

2. Thinly slice your oranges and space them out on a tray with a wire rack.

3. Place the tray in the oven for approx. 6 hours.

4. Flip the orange slices every hour. Resist the urge to turn up the heat because you are simply drying them rather than cooking them.

5. Once the oranges have dried, leave them to cool.

6. Using your needle and string, thread the orange slices together. Tie off the ends of the string and voila! Garland complete!

G A R L A N D # 2

Paper Rosettes

You will need:

Old book pages (or other rectangular shaped paper)

PVA glue

String

Contrasting card or sticker for the centre decoration

1. Take a book page and fold it in a concertina pattern with approx. 4cm between each fold. Repeat with 3 more pages.

2. Fold each piece of paper in half and glue together the inner lengths to create a fan shape.

3. Pair the fans together and glue them to create 2 halves.

4. Glue the string in between these two halves.

5. Finally, glue a decorative card circle to the centre of the rosette.

6. Repeat these steps as many times as you like, spacing the rosettes along the same piece of string. I made 7 rosettes for a 1 meter garland.

G A R L A N D #3

Stitched Stars

You will need:

Sewing machine

Gold card

Scissors or a star shaped hole punch

1. Cut out approx. 50 star shapes using a template or star shaped hole punch.

2. Start by pulling out a length of excess thread from your sewing machine. Sew through the first star using a straight stitch.

3. Sew for a few more stitches so that you have a length of thread and then sew through the second star.

4. Repeat this method until all of the stars are attached together. Cut off the length of stars leaving enough excess thread at the end to be able to hang the garland.

50 stars gave me a garland of approx. 2 meters but this can easily be made shorter or longer depending on your preference.

Now go and get creating!

- S xo