I’ve found a few decorating dilemmas around Thanksgiving:
- You decorated early for fall so come November you are ready and willing to move onto the Christmas season.
- You want to hold onto fall through Thanksgiving, but love all the holiday decor you see everyone else doing (thanks Instagram).
- You are just now enjoying fall and may even still need to decorate; however, come November 1st, stores have already converted to Christmas so it’s hard to find any pumpkins and leaves.
Enter this DIY Thankgiving Garland you can create in under 30 minutes. I created it with Thanksgiving in mind (I fall into camp #2 above), but since it is made using Christmas decor it could easily be used for Christmas.
I love metallics and have them in my house year round, but for Christmas I lean towards reds and whites so have never really bought gold ornaments — even though I LOVE them. So while shopping at Target last week, I immediately fell in love with their geometric white and gold ornaments, but they didn’t say “Christmas” to me, they said “Thanksgiving.” And I knew I needed to create something with them. As I continued to browse their Christmas section I came across their Gold Bell Garland and immediately knew I could create a Thanksgiving Garland with the ornaments I so desperately needed (haha!). I mean who says ornaments have to be for Christmas?
Materials
(Mine was for about a 5 foot wide shelf and all items are optional, do what makes you happy!)
- 9 Ornaments (I found mine at Target. I went with a mix of metallics and whites because the patterns and textures looked like a nice twist on fall.)
- 6-8 White Feathers (Available at craft stores. If doing for Christmas, maybe substitute candy canes for the feathers. Or tie on holly leaves. Be creative!)
- Paint (I used gold paint on the feathers, but you could pick any color that goes with your ornaments.)
- Gold Bell Garland (Available at Target) OR Berry Garland (Available at most craft stores)
- Twine
- Twinkle lights (Not needed, but turns out to be a great final touch!)
Instructions
- Paint tips of feathers – follow grain of the feather to create a natural triangle shape.
While feathers dry, cut twine a few feet longer than length of space you are hanging it on.- Cut off any hooks or ribbons on your ornaments so you can string ornaments directly on your twine. String each ornament onto the twine and tie a knot so the ornament stays in place. Space your ornaments about every 7 inches or so. (Would be lovely to hang just this!)
Hang your bell or berry garland on your shelf or mantel.
Tie on your ornament garland next. Use the berry branches to help intertwine your ornament garland.
Tie on feathers between each ornament.- If you want to get really fancy, you can add a string of twinkle lights! I ended up adding a battery operated strand and you can’t even see the wire during the day!
I hope this sparks your creativity and you either copy as is or find fun ways to make this your own. For example, I could see it with pinecone ornaments and red berry garland. Or with a variety of traditional Christmas ornaments paired with candy canes tied on with pretty bows.
Need simple art? Frame a feather on simple black paper. I found two feathers for under $3 at Michaels.
