How to Decorate With Christmas Garland

Nothing says "Christmas" like a beautifully-decorated home. Turning your everyday rooms into a wonderland of evergreen, velvet and glitter just heightens the anticipation and deepens the sense of celebration so special to the holiday season. Using Christmas garlands is a simple, quick and lovely way to dress up any room. Decorating with garlands is not difficult, though if you will be working with tall doorways, it's good to have a helper. Whether you choose traditional evergreen or more playful colored tinsel, hanging Christmas garlands is a great way to start the season. Does this Spark an idea?

Things You'll Need
Garland
Glass serving bowl
Lemons, limes and cranberries

Instructions

1. Coil smaller sections of garland in a large, glass serving bowl. Add lemons, limes, a sprinkle of cranberries and a candle for a wonderfully decorative centerpiece for a kitchen or dining room table.

2. Lay garland across the top of a fireplace mantel. Arrange column candles, Christmas ornaments and small decorations in front of the greenery.

3. Wind Christmas garland in and out of stair balusters. Secure it with fishing line or clear zip ties that can be hidden in the foliage and behind ribbons.

4. Place lighted garland along the top of curtain rods or vertical blind tracks to softly frame your windows.

5. Drape garland over doorways. Stick removable adhesive hooks to the door frame and tuck the spine of the garland behind them. Keep the height of the tallest person in the house in mind when draping the garland at the top of the door---a face full of needles on a midnight trip to the refrigerator does not say "Happy Holidays!".

Tips & Warnings

Hang unbreakable ornaments from garland for that extra bit of pizzazz.

Never light candles near Christmas garland.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_6216897_decorate-christmas-garland.html

Christmas Garland Ideas

Don't settle for the traditional tinsel garland this year when decorating your tree. Do something a little different and create your own garland for decorating around your house or Christmas tree. Get kids to help with this project so everyone can get involved. Creating your own homemade garland is also a good way to recycle unused items around the house.

Gift Wrap Or Card Garland
Cookie cutters work well as templates for Christmas-shaped paper garlands. For the paper, use leftover gift wrap or old Christmas cards. Make shapes such as bells, trees or candy canes using the paper. Make two copies of each shape and glue them together to make them double-sided. Punch a hole in each shape with a hole punch and thread the shapes onto ribbon or colorful cord.

Candy Garland
Scraps of fabric and miniature foam balls become candy garland with this simple Christmas craft. Cut fabric squares several times the size of the balls you are using. Hot glue a ball to the center of each piece of fabric and wrap it up like a piece of hard candy. Twist each end to look like candy inside a wrapper and secure with small pieces of ribbon. Make multiple candies and hot glue or string them together to create a garland for the tree.

Ornament Garland
Liven up a thick length of pretty ribbon with Christmas ornaments. Loop the ribbon through each ornament and evenly space and tie the ornaments onto the ribbon to create the garland. Similarly colored ornaments, such as all gold or all silver, make an elegant statement. Ornaments of the same shape look uniform and sophisticated.

Kids' Garlands
Kids can make the classic paper-chain garlands to decorate the tree. Cut long strips of paper and form loops around other loops to create chains. Fasten loops with invisible tape, glue or a stapler. Christmas colors look best or have kids color the loops or make individual designs on them. Kids also can help string popcorn and cranberries together to make old-fashioned, traditional garlands.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/list_7363588_christmas-garland-ideas.html