Fall Wreath Alternative: Lighted Fabric Garland
When thinking about fall decorating, it seems like a lot of people (me included) get stuck in a wreath rut. (Try saying that 5 times fast!)
What to hang over the mantel? A wreath. What to hang on the front door? A wreath. You get the picture.
If you're looking to do something a little different with your fall decorating this year, check out this fun wreath alternative: a lighted fabric garland.
You can do so many different things with it, too, especially since if you use battery operated lights like I did.
I found my lights at Walmart for $5.97, and I used a bunch of fabric I already had, so this project is super inexpensive. Even if you have to buy the fabric, you can still easily make this for under $15, which is great when you consider that you can find similar garlands on Etsy for $30 and up.
This garland was really easy to make, but I will tell you, tying all those fabric pieces is kind of time consuming. Park yourself in front of the TV and go to town. Start to finish, this project took me about 3-4 hours total.
Supplies to Make a Light-Up Garland
- 1 strand of lights, preferably battery powered
- Fabric
To get started, cut your fabric pieces. I liked the frayed look, so I ripped my fabric into strips about 1" to 1.5" wide. If you'd prefer, you could use a rotary cutter or scissors.
Once you have all of your long strips, cut them down into strips about 6"-7" long. The number of strips you need will depend on the length of your light strand, but you will need a lot.
Now, just start tying the strips onto your light strand! You'll want to tie them tight enough so they don't flop around, but loose enough so you can slide them down the light strand to make enough room for other strips. Obviously, the more strips you use, the fuller your garland will be.
That's all there is to it! Now you can play around with where you want to use your garland!
Use it as a swag along your stairway railing, or wrap it the whole way down the bannister.
Hang it from your mantel or around a mirror.
If you have a covered front entrance, you can also drape it around your front door. {That is one of the things I wish we had on my house! I get so jealous of everyone's cute fall porches!}
Or, if you just can't bear to be without a wreath this year, wrap it around a wreath form and hang it on your door! I used the wreath I had hanging on my fall mantel last year, which was wrapped with printed burlap. I like that you can see little bits of the burlap through the fabric garland.
This is such a versatile decor item -- and by just switching out the fabrics and the color of the lights, you could make one for every season!
Where in your house would you use your fabric garland?
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