There are a few things about me that will never change no matter how long I'm absent from the blogging world. One of them is funny, punny titles (you'll appreciate this title more once you get into the tutorial). Another thing is my consistent, unflappable love of garlands. It's actually a little ridiculous. And accidentally deceptive. You'd think my house is constantly festooned and party ready. This is rarely the case, but when you love something and feel inspiration strike for making it, it's always much easier to just give in.
This particular garland actually marries some additional obsessions: books, stars, delicateness, and simplicity. I came across a dictionary that had seen better days and was currently homeless. Dictionary pages are in general pretty visually exciting for me (between the pictures and the tiny print) and work exceptionally well for projects where you want the advantage of small type. I also remembered a small star paper punch that I'm always looking for excuses to use. The idea quickly fell into place after that and has charmed everyone who has seen it (much like I suspect today's title has beguiled you now). By the time you read this, I will have already made and gifted two of them. Since I can't give one to every person who's reading this, I guess I'll just have to give you the gift of a tutorial!
To make your own, you need:
- dictionary pages
- a glue stick (not the glue tape or rollers; they tear the delicate dictionary paper)
- twine
- a paper punch
- scissors and a ruler or a paper trimer/guillotine
So truth be told, you can make the flags any size you want. I particularly wanted small flags that would be appropriate for the star punch so I measured the actual casing of the punch. It is approximately 1" x 1" so I opted to trim all the margins from the page, then cut the page into 1" wide strips.
Now please note: dictionary pages are super thin and delicate, so whatever you use to cut them should be nice and sharp. In my case, I 'm using a paper guillotine so to get to the sharpest part of the blade, I needed to cut somewhere along the middle or bottom of the blade.
Now that I've finished that thrilling PSA.... I then cut each strip down into 2" long segments.
Once you have all your flags, fold them in half. This just saves you time.
Now grab your twine and figure out how much of a starting tail you want. Take one flag and apply the glue all over the inside (where the two sides touch when it's folded in half).
Place the inside crease on the twine where you want the first flag. Press the two sides together et voila! Your first flag!
Continue this process, spacing the flags out as you desire. When the last flag is in place, measure out an equal length ending tail and snip the twine. Once you are done, you can grab your paper punch and start punching each flag in the center. The glue dries quickly so you shouldn't have an issue gumming up the works. I certainly haven't!
Because it is so small, this garland is great for mailing to friends and family!
One dictionary page yielded a garland for me that was over 5 feet long. It's handy for decorating small spaces like bulletin boards or shelves! You can also shorten the twine length and attach each end to a bamboo skewer for a cake topper! It would make a nice touch wrapped around a present instead of the usual ribbons! How else would you use it? Let me know in the comments!
