Make your own garland (for free)

Last night when Will and I bought our live fir Christmas tree, the salesman cut off the lower branches and threw them into a big bin behind him that was almost half full of similar cuttings.  I asked him what happened to them and he said nothing - that they were destined for the garbage so I asked him if I could take a grocery bag full home with me to make a live garland for my mantel and after getting his permission, that's just what I did.

It's so simple to make your own garland: you can do it from any branches, sticks or basically anything that takes your fancy that you can fashion together with wire (actually a thick braided rope looks good for a beach themed place and doesn't even require any wire... but getting back on topic:). Here's all you need:

Wire, pruning shears/ scissors, stems/ pieces

You start by cutting same-sized pieces and arranging them in a tangle free stack.  Then you put the first two together and attach using the wire, like so:

Choosing wire the same colour as your pieces makes it near impossible to see!

Be sure to point the stems in opposite directions for a full look and continue doing this until you've reached your desired length.

Being creative is messy!

Because my mantel is quite long, I found it easier to do one half at a time and then join them together with the wire once both halves were placed onto the mantel.

Simple and takes less than 10 minutes!  I had plenty left over so I even made one for outside and attached it onto our railing with twine:

Just think - these beautiful branches that have made our  home feel so festive were destined for the garbage!! I'm glad I managed to save them and create two garlands completely for free with nothing more than a little 'hard yakka' - the Aussie term for elbow grease ;)