4 Easy Fall Garlands

I like to think of garlands as necklaces for the home. While I’m just as excited as the next girl about chunky knit hat season, I might be even more into accessorizing my home than my head.

I whipped up a few garlands that are perfect for draping across mantels, over door frames, or just taping onto a wall. They add such a festive flair for the fall season!

Related: Check out our entire DIY garland archive here.

Paper Leaf Garland

I love the beautiful fall leaf garlands you can find at craft stores this time of year, but I wanted a more minimal/crafty look for our house, so I cut some leaves out of card stock and strung them onto hemp twine.

The most difficult part of making this garland is trimming out the leaves, but it only took me a couple of episodes of Gilmore Girls to make all of these leaves and more.

Above is a leaf template you can use to print out the shapes onto the cardstock of your choice.

After cutting, I could still see the black lines from the template, but I just made sure that side of the leaf was facing backwards when I strung them onto the twine.

If you don’t have a hole punch, you can certainly tape the leaves to the twine or string that you use.

Pine Cone Garland

This pine cone and wooden bead garland is delicate and earthy—perfect for just a little touch of the outdoors inside the home. This garland is a cinch to make, and just a few supplies can make a lot of garland!

To make this garland, you will need:
-some rope or twine
–wooden beads (stained or natural)
–pine cones
-scissors
–hot glue gun

I began my garland by first evenly spacing the wooden beads. I tied a knot on either side of each bead to keep it in place. After all the beads were in place, I used small globs of hot glue to secure the pine cones in place.

If you want, you could also drill through the pine cones and thread the twine through them as you are placing the beads. But hot glue was pretty easy, so I decided to go that route.

You can customize the look of this garland by painting the pine cones or using different kinds of beads. Space everything out, or crowd them closer together—It’s totally up to you!

Ghost Garland

This little ghost garland is more cute than it is ghoulish. It’s a great addition to your Halloween mantel decor and works best with a dark background. This project is also really fun to do with kids! Even my two-year-old was interested in helping.

To make the garland, you will need:
–styrofoam balls (I used 1.5″)
–cheesecloth
–black and white brads
-thin twine or string
-scissors

Cut out a square of folded cheesecloth that will evenly surround the styrofoam ball. My cheesecloth was folded in four layers, so I left those layers as I cut.

Pull the cheesecloth around the edges to stretch it out and make it look gauzy. Then push two black brads into the wrapped styrofoam ball to look like eyes and also to hold the cheesecloth in place.

Pull apart the two prongs of a white brad and wrap them around the string. Push the prongs back together and then pierce the top of the ghost with the brad to connect the ghost to the string.

Tip: I would wait to attach the ghosts to the string until the string is hung where you want the garland to go. This will keep the ghosts from falling off the garland as you hang it or transport it.

Happy Halloween Garland

I love the look of pennant garlands and thought a simple black version with white lettering would look great in my home. This is a simple project that would also work well for birthday parties or any other kind of celebration.

All you need for this garland is:
–black cardstock
–white puffy paint
–string or twine
-tape or hole punch
–craft blade, cutting mat, and steel ruler
-pencil (optional)

I cut my black cardstock into 3″x 4″ rectangles. Then I cut out 1″x 3″ triangles from the bottom.

I used a pencil to draw out the shape of the letters. Then I traced over the pencil lines with puffy paint. I let the paint dry for a few hours before handling.

Drawing with a puffy paint bottle is much easier than painstakingly brushing on white paint with a thin paint brush. And the bonus? It goes on opaque, so you only need one coat of paint.

I strung up the pennants through holes I made with a small hole punch, but you could easily use tape on the back too.

There ya have it! Four easy garland ideas to choose from. Try one, or try them all! If you don’t feel like making your own, you can always go for this cute felt one or this pretty leaf version instead!

Maybe add a fall wreath to go with the garlands as well? Check out our garlands archive for more inspiration! Mandi

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Get the How-To

How to make 4 fall garlands

Supplies

1x2x3x

PAPER LEAF GARLAND

• ▢ colored paper
• ▢ scissors
• ▢ twine
• ▢ leaf pattern
• ▢ tape

PINE CONE GARLAND

• ▢ pine cones
• ▢ wooden beads
• ▢ twine
• ▢ hot glue gun
• ▢ scissors

GHOST GARLAND

• ▢ styrofoam balls (I used 1.5″)
• ▢ cheesecloth
• ▢ black and white brads
• ▢ thin twine or string
• ▢ scissors

HAPPY HALLOWEEN GARLAND

• ▢ black cardstock
• ▢ white puffy paint
• ▢ string or twine
• ▢ tape or hole punch
• ▢ craft blade, cutting mat, and steel ruler
• ▢ pencil (optional)

Instructions

PAPER LEAF GARLAND

• Print out your leaf template onto colored paper
• Cut out your leaves and attach to twine with string

PINE CONE GARLAND

• I began my garland by first evenly spacing the wooden beads. I tied a knot on either side of each bead to keep it in place. After all the beads were in place, I used small globs of hot glue to secure the pine cones in place. If you want, you could also drill through the pine cones and thread the twine through them as you are placing the beads. But hot glue was pretty easy, so I decided to go that route.
• You can customize the look of this garland by painting the pine cones or using different kinds of beads. Space everything out, or crowd them closer together—It’s totally up to you!

GHOST GARLAND

• Cut out a square of folded cheesecloth that will evenly surround the styrofoam ball. My cheesecloth was folded in four layers, so I left those layers as I cut. Pull the cheesecloth around the edges to stretch it out and make it look gauzy. Then push two black brads into the wrapped styrofoam ball to look like eyes and also to hold the cheesecloth in place.
• Pull apart the two prongs of a white brad and wrap them around the string. Push the prongs back together and then pierce the top of the ghost with the brad to connect the ghost to the string.

  Tip: I would wait to attach the ghosts to the string until the string is hung where you want the garland to go. This will keep the ghosts from falling off the garland as you hang it or transport it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN GARLAND

• I cut my black cardstock into 3″x 4″ rectangles. Then I cut out 1″x 3″ triangles from the bottom.
• I used a pencil to draw out the shape of the letters. Then I traced over the pencil lines with puffy paint. I let the paint dry for a few hours before handling. Drawing with a puffy paint bottle is much easier than painstakingly brushing on white paint with a thin paint brush. And the bonus? It goes on opaque, so you only need one coat of paint.

  I strung up the pennants through holes I made with a small hole punch, but you could easily use tape on the back too.

© Author Mandi Johnson