How to decorate your house with garlands? What do you need to make crafts? How to make a garland for the New Year: the best ideas and tips.
Garlands for the New Year are a traditional attribute of the holiday. It is difficult to imagine an elegant Christmas tree without a decorative cord. And while modern electric lights began to decorate Christmas trees a little more than a few decades ago, a do-it-yourself garland for New Year and Christmas has been hung in the houses of celebrants for several centuries. Homemade decorations add coziness and family warmth to the holiday. And the creation of new products can become a wonderful pre-holiday tradition for a friendly family.
How to decorate a house for the New Year with garlands?
A decorative cord or chain with bright ribbons adorned the festive trees of the ancient Romans. This symbol of fertility and the imminent arrival of spring could also gird the walls of the house. An unusual tradition took root in the conquered lands of the Roman Empire and mixed with the local ones, actively developing almost throughout Europe. So, since the 16th century in England, ribbons - a symbol of fertility, began to be combined with lighted candles - a symbol of protection from evil spirits. A beautiful tradition was brought to Asia by Peter I from Europe.
Since an open fire and a dry tree nearby are not a good idea, they quickly began to replace candles with shiny materials, and more attention was paid to the design of paper garlands for the New Year. The resulting beautiful chains are now hung not only on the festive tree, they also decorate the whole room.
The most popular places for decorating a room are:
- working walls - garlands are hung with arches in an empty space;
- window openings - a decorative element is attached with a vault to the cornice or falls in a cascade, framing the window opening;
- chandelier - if it is in the center of the room, then several ribbons pull from the shades to the corners;
- bookshelves - a long cord cascades from the upper shelves to the lower ones;
- vertical floor lamps or sconces are tied with short neat ribbons.
At the same time, not only the central room, in which the spruce is located, is decorated with garlands. Such decoration will well convey the atmosphere of the holiday, even if there is no spruce in this room.
The advantage of paper garlands for the New Year or handmade ribbons is the independent selection of the width and length of the product. A perfectly sized garland will make decorating your home easier and faster. Preparing for the holiday will be easy and enjoyable.
Before you start creating a garland for the New Year (from felt, cardboard or any other materials), think over the overall design of the holiday. Would such a decor be appropriate in the room? What color of materials to choose? The overall design of the room and tree decorations looks very nice.
It is also advisable to think over in advance the place where the garland will be hung. This will help you more accurately calculate the length and think over the fasteners. Usually, the cord is tied at both ends with a loop, which is thrown over the protruding areas (a cornice element, the edge of a mirror, or just a nail), but in your particular case, other techniques may be needed.
It is not at all necessary to place garlands of cones for the New Year, for example, strictly under the ceiling or on spruce branches. Such a decoration can be elegantly spread on a flat wall in the form of a herringbone, wave or square. The whole garland can also be lowered vertically downward. Non-standard fixings will add originality to the decor.
What materials to use for the garlands?
The earliest festive decorations were colored ribbons, but as technology developed, the materials became more sophisticated and improved. Since the 19th century, a garland of colored paper for the New Year has been considered the most exquisite decoration. And only a little later, the technology of creating paper garlands was improved by the production of tinsel, and such dangerous living candles were replaced by safe electric lights.
Almost any materials are used to make a garland for the New Year. But the most popular are:
- Office or colored paper … Pure white sheets make a beautiful garland of snowflakes for the New Year, well, and colored material can be used both as the basis for a full garland and as a complementary part. The disadvantage of paper decorations is their fragility, as a rule, a new ribbon will have to be made by next year.
- Felt … Textile is a durable and beautiful material, and in work it is as unpretentious as paper. To make a garland of felt for the New Year, it is not necessary to be able to sew, this material is well glued, fastened with staples and does not crumble on the cuts. A felt garland for the New Year will last several seasons in a row.
- Natural materials … Branches, cones add coziness and warmth to the decor of the room, but at the same time they can serve not only as a thematic decoration. So, a garland of branches for the New Year can be supplemented with balls and tinsel, and after the holidays, remove decorations, leaving a simple eco-friendly decorative element of the room.
- Christmas decorations … Atypical use of holiday balls and tinsel always looks original.
More and more often, there are also author's master classes in which garlands are made of non-standard materials - food products, plastic bags, children's toys and other items. Here it is important to show your imagination and think how beautifully to combine what is at hand in a row.
Cords, braid, chain and their combinations can be used as connecting elements for decorative tape. For example, it looks very nice when a satin ribbon is stretched through the chain links. But often purchased "lights" are complemented by new pendants or intertwined with homemade garlands. This is a good way to modernize a boring commercial decoration, but in this case it is important to remember about safety precautions: despite the fact that little heating elements are used in the production of electric garlands, it is impossible to twist the wire into several loops. It is also forbidden to stir a pendant made of flammable materials (paper, cotton wool or others) near the fire.
Best ideas on how to make a garland for the New Year?
There are a lot of ideas for garlands for the New Year, and they are all based on one principle: a long cord with attachments at the ends is decorated with pendants. In some cases, the cord itself is a decorative element, for example, when several exotic ribbons are intertwined. The easiest to perform is a garland of balls for the New Year: Christmas tree decorations are put on a ribbon and evenly distributed along the length. But if you have the time and desire to create, you can create exclusive garlands with your own hands for the New Year. It is better to make the first crafts from paper or cardboard; they do not require a lot of experience in working with materials. And then you can use other materials for creativity.
Garland of colored paper
A paper garland for the New Year is an easy way to decorate your home. And if ordinary chains - thinly cut strips of paper connected into rings-links - will surprise no one, then voluminous paper garlands for the New Year will attract the attention of your guests.
Necessary materials:
- colored paper;
- scissors;
- glue;
- satin ribbon for cord
We make a voluminous garland of paper:
- We cut square blanks out of paper: the larger the square, the larger the figure will turn out. The average size of a square is 10 by 10 cm, but large and small figures can be combined in one garland.
- Draw a spiral on the square with a pencil in the direction from the center to the edges.
- Cut the paper with scissors along the line of the drawing, round the edges of the square blank.
- We twist the spiral into a volumetric "rose" and glue the flower at the base.
- We collect a garland from a large number of flowers.
For New Year's holidays, it is best to choose red and green colors, and additionally decorate the flowers with glitter. Such a garland of colored paper for the New Year looks original due to the combination of different sizes of flowers. And for other holidays, you can make the same garland, but in different shades.
Garland made of cardboard
Cardboard is actively used to work in stencil technology. For many, cardboard garlands for the New Year are presented as volumetric lanterns suspended on a paper chain. But few people make a pennant decoration. Although the technique itself is very simple and looks beautiful.
Necessary materials:
- white or colored cardboard, depending on the author's idea;
- multi-colored fabric - flaps;
- braid;
- sewing machine
We make a garland of cardboard:
- We cut out equilateral triangles from cardboard (the size of the blanks may be different).
- We cut out flaps of fabric to size 1 cm smaller than cardboard blanks.
- We put fabric blanks on the cardboard.
- We collect the garland: for this we sew pennants from cardboard, fabric, cardboard with fabric to the braid in different order.
If you are worried that the edges of the fabric on the cuts will crumble, then treat them with a thin layer of glue.
Note! The technology for creating this garland from cardboard for the New Year requires stitching the material using a sewing machine. Don't worry, the cardboard will not damage the clipper during operation.
Fir cones garland
Garlands of branches for the New Year can decorate not only a fir tree, but also a festive table, as well as decorations from fir cones. Handy materials for such a decor can be obtained almost free of charge, walking in a park or forest. But the store also sells artificial blanks. Before purchasing them, make some decorations from live buds and branches for one season. And only when you are sure that this decor suits you, buy plastic components for creativity.
Necessary materials:
- fir cones;
- woolen thread;
- enamel paint optional
Making a garland of fir cones:
- We clean and dry the collected cones well.
- At an even distance, we tie the thread to the base of the cone - the garland of cones is ready for the New Year.
- If you want to give this decoration a fabulous look, then paint the edges of the cones with white enamel to simulate snow. To do this, pour paint into a deep bowl and gently soak a lump in it.
Without paint, a garland of cones is suitable not only for the New Year, but also as a seasonal decoration. And to give the decor solemnity, you can distribute a little cotton wool on the cones before the holiday. Cotton wool garlands for the New Year are always associated with snow-white winter.
Christmas garland of yarn
The yarn is a real winter material, its use in the decor gives the home comfort and warmth. The most difficult idea of how to make a garland for the New Year from a buckle is knitting Santa's boots. It will take knitting experience and a lot of time to make such miniatures.
The process of creating a garland of connected snowflakes for the New Year is somewhat easier. But if you are not a fan of knitting and crocheting, but you want to make an ornament from yarn, do not despair: making an ornament from pompons is very simple.
To get a yarn jewelry, you need to make a lot of pom-poms - the size may vary. Putting them together, you get a very soft and unusual Christmas decoration. You can also knit tassels instead of pom-poms.
Pasta garland
Even children in kindergarten are taught to create with the help of pasta. The idea of a garland for the New Year is simple: paint the "spiral" pasta in golden color and join together with a thread.
Instead of spirals, you can also use butterflies or another type of such product. The craft is easy to do with the children, but make sure that the child does not pull the painted product into his mouth.
But a truly edible garland will be made of sweets. Sweets in a beautiful wrapper can be hung on a regular ribbon or on a garland of balloons for the New Year. In this case, the Christmas tree should also be decorated with sweets.
Note! Consider the storage location for your crafts in advance. Please note that bulky garlands cannot be pressed. This means that in order for such a chain to wait for the next season, you will need to allocate a lot of space.
How to make a garland for the New Year - watch the video:
Garlands for the New Year are a simple yet very effective way to add a festive atmosphere to your home. Not only the jewelry itself pleases, but also the process of their creation. Making a garland for the New Year is a good pre-holiday tradition for many families. The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment, show imagination and use various materials.
