Festive Garland :: Ta-dah!

Finally!!!! It's only taken me a year to share the making of this garland with you, a year almost exactly to the very day. In fact, if I had waited until tomorrow to dance my ta-dah moment then it would have been exactly a year on the nose - how about that? It seems that this particular week in December is full of creative fun in the Attic, and I'm really excited to how you how this Festive Garland took shape.

Firstly, lets chat about my colour palette. I used a collection of bright, jolly "Quality Street" colours which are a nostalgic reminder of many childhood Christmases - these are all oddments of Stylecraft Special DK. I adore these colours so so much, they are full of Christmas spirit for me, and the joyful exuberance of them makes me really happy. Of course you can use any colour combinations you like  - traditional red, gold and green, or maybe a winter palette of frosty blues? Or how about a simple Scandi red and white colour scheme?

For reference, here are my own festive colour choices as shown above :

Top row : Plum : Bright Pink : Magenta : Lapis : (Ricorumi Silver lamé)

Middle row : Kelly Green : Grass Green : Spearmint : Turquoise : Empire

Bottom row : Lipstick : Tomato : Spice : Mustard : Gold

As you can imagine, I had lots of fun playing with the colours as I was crocheting the baubles, especially selecting the first two colours. Rounds 1 and 2 need to have a high contrast with each other, and you can see in the photo above how I chose the colours to create the maximum amount of "pop". Turquoise on red, bright pink on teal, green on mustard. YUM!!

Such a delicious array of colours, couldn't you just eat them up?!

You'll notice that I've left especially long tail ends - with the start and end of each round I made sure to leave a 15cm tail dangling. When the crochet is finished, these ten tails will be carefully darned through the rounds of stitches to form the tassel....

....see what I mean?? It takes a little time, but it's a really neat method. 

Once all the ends are darned into place, you can simply steam them straight, twist and knot them, then trim to size.

Neat eh?? 

As a final finishing touch, I stitched little golden stars in the centre of each bauble to add a weeny bit of festive sparkle.

These tassel baubles turned out even better than I had imagined inside my (very messy but quite brilliant) Creative Mind. When I set out to create a project I can usually already visualise it really clearly inside my mind. It's almost like looking at a photograph, which forever amazes me and I am extremely lucky to have this ability I think. I don't take it for granted as it doesn't always work out, but with these cute little decs, well, they turned out just beautifully. 

You might also remember these Teeny Tiny Stars I made last year? I shared the simple pattern for them here on my blog and you can find it in the usual place, or click ((HERE)).

I used the same bright palette of colours and crocheted 24 of these little stars, to sit in between the 12 bauble decorations.

As this is a Festive Garland I decided to add a bit of sparkle and use silver lamé yarn to crochet the connecting chain.

I placed one star at each end with two stars in between each bauble and it was a fast process to connect everything together once I'd decided on the colour placement. The crochet motifs are simply attached with a slip stitch, and separated by chains, it's ever so easy. I've explained it all in more detail within the tutorial.

Finally, I decided to add a little tinkle to the sparkle and bought some brightly coloured 10mm bells to finish the garland off. I tried various way of attaching them and in the end the only way I could make work was to tie short lengths of yarn to each bell, then tie the bells directly onto the crochet chain. It was a bit fiddly but not too bad (the fiddliest bit was threading the silver yarn through the tiiiiiiiiiiny hole at the top of each bell, gawd, it was so frustrating!)

I found the bells on Amazon ((HERE)), and there are also various plain silver and gold options on Amazon if you prefer something simpler.

I love that these bells actually tinkle! When I unpacked it from it's tissue paper this year, the garland made the most beautiful sound and I was utterly enchanted, honestly it doesn't take very much to make me happy.

So my bright, jolly, sparkly, tinkly Festive Garland is complete........................

...................Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's very me, don't you think?!

Of course I love love love love love it.

I loved it last year when I first hung it in place and I love it even more seeing it again this year.

As promised, I made a full tutorial for the Festive Garland - there are lots of photos to guide you through the making process, and there is also a PDF pattern that you can download/print as well.

You can find both by clicking on the following link >>

★ FESTIVE GARLAND TUTORIAL ★

I hope you like this colourful project, and that you might feel inspired to crochet a little festive happiness for your home. 

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Comments

[Beverley]

Lovely garland Lucy. Colours so bright and cheerful.
Will be giving this a try for sure. Thank you. Enjoy your Christmas x

[Rachel S.]

I love this! So pretty. The bells are a great touch.

[Diane Harrison]

You are so creative. Everything you design and make is just wonderful.

[Crafty Cath]

That's lovely! Merry Christmas x

[Amanda]

Totally magical!! A wonderful make so thanks for sharing!! keep well Amanda x

[Annie Brodrick]

So Happy & Colorful! Exactly what I needed🌈
Thank you Lucy! This is truly delightful🥰

[TammyCA]

Oh, so cheerful! Love the sparkle & jingle bells, too.
Just last night I came across a tutorial on YouTube of very festive, colorful crochet hanging twirly “corkscrews” with dangling beads but it was in Spanish & not sure I can figure it out, but I’m gonna try..they really speak to me & I bet you’d love them too. Also, she made the cutest colorful roosters..I’m gonna be sad if I can’t make these..but I bet you can. 🙂 Oh, and I love your Reindeer! I tried Amigurumi & I too have a crooked eye animal😆..mine is a pink pig & it makes me laugh when I see it.
Have a Merry Christmas!

[Tonia]

What a beautiful garland - and I love the Quality Street colours! This year, I made myself a pom-pom wreath to decorate our front window using the left over wool from the Dahlia Spike blanket.
Think I'll have to invest in some brighter colours now though - they're very tempting!

[Nora Mcgrann]

Gorgeous colour choice and garland Lucy....❤
Hope you and your family enjoy a lovely time over Christmas..and look forward to a much brighter 2021.....given all that 2020 brought us..
But your blogs ALWAYS cheered us up..thank you for doing so..

Nora 🎄🎅🎄😘😘😘

['Patricia A]

Need something to hang in my bedroom. This garland may fit the bill!
I was looking for a tiny project for when I cannot hold onto a blanket (have 6 of those on the go).
Hmm. need to buy more of those invisible' hooks to hang it on. Dah! need to make it first.
Thank you!!
Merry Christmas :-)

[Charlotte]

Thank you. It is beautiful and perfect on your mantel. I am having a difficult time getting in the festive mood this year. Seeing this certainly gives me a happy thought. Thank you.

[Charlotte Pountney]

Thank you; I have tiny tree; I will make some tiny stars!

[Sandra Struggles]

Thank you
What lovely ideas you have

[LINDA]

Gosh it's lovely, I think it's maybe too late to make one for this year but I have it pinned for next year and may make some for gifts too. Thank you for the pattern Lucy.xx

[Victoria]

Did you make the two angels that are hanging from your candle holders? I would love to make some of those. Is there a pattern or instructions? The whole mantle looks just beautiful!

[Deanna]

Awesome! Absolutely love it!

[Mary W]

Perfect!

[CJ]

Beautiful. The orange one puts me in mind of Christmassy orange slices, and I love the stars in between. Your mantel is looking lovely as ever, the garland looks just right under your illuminated houses. I found my little house yesterday and was happy to find it still lights up.

[Mandella]

Love it, it’s so festive and bright. I’ll put this on my own list to make next year. Our boat (yes we live on one) needs a bit of cheer.

If you ever have to thread tiny bells with impossible holes again, I recommend an old fashioned needle threader. It saves so much frustration.

[Gill Crowe]

Thank you and very retro and contemporary as I have seen a reemergence of brightly coloured lights on trees and houses here. Have a wonderful Christmas and keep posting the photos of Skipton etc. Have booked to come back in March. God bless x

[Sandra]

Dear Lucy, thank you so much for sharing this lovely pattern/tutorial! For the last few years December is my crochet challenge month for the Dutch fundraising happening 3FM Serious Request for the Red Cross. As I am halfway now, I can start with this one ;-) Wishing you merry X-mas & Happy New Year! Kind regards from Holland, Sandra (HandySandy)

[Maria Salgado Zajac]

Merci beaucoup, vous êtes une merveilleuse personne. Bonnes Fêtes 👏🤩🥰🙏🏼🌈😘

[Teresa Kasner]

It's wonderful, Lucy! It sure does dress up and finish off your mantel decor. It would look nice across our TV cabinet. Thanks for the tutorial!
((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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[Irene McCormick]

I LOVE the long ends to tassle idea, sewing in ends is always the worst part of any multicoloured thing :D

[Liz]

So beautiful. Thank you💕