How to: Transform Christmas Garlands and Make Them Look More Expensive

by Jennifer Farley on Nov 30, 2017

How to make inexpensive Christmas garland look expensive

I love Christmas garland. I drape them on doorways, my fireplace, and even my staircase banister. A few years ago, I decided to buy all fresh evergreen lengths of Christmas garland, and I worked hard to drape them everywhere, following all the instructions to make sure they'd last. But two weeks later ... my garlands were dead and done.

The heater vents and the heat from our fireplace fires killed that greenery dead. Everyone told I should have waited until two weeks before Christmas before hanging real greenery, but I want my home to be decorated all Christmas season! I needed something a little more permanent, and the custom "fake" options where not cheap, ranging from $80-$300. So my solution was to take an inexpensive garland and make it look full, expensive, and as real as fake could possibly look.

First things first, find an inspiration photo for this project.

I wanted a mixture between the above garland...

... and this garland with Magnolia leaves.

Here's how to transform Christmas garland:

materials

1-2 Magnolia leaf florals
1-2 Evergreen/ Pine Christmas floral
1-2 Eucalyptus leaf florals
Inexpensive Christmas garland (I got mine at Wal-mart for less than $2. Only sold in stores.)
Wire clippers (not pictured)
Hot glue and gun (not pictured) You might not need this if your garland is only going to rest on top of your mantel and not on drape on the sides.

The inexpensive Christmas garland will be your base. You need at least two because really cheap garland is typically very skinny (you'll be twisting them together). I happen to have a huge fireplace mantel so I needed 4 garlands for my base, which cost a total of eight dollars!

I purchased two of each of the floral stems.

Total Cost of my 18 Ft. Garland: $25.00 ....and some change

Step

Unwrap your garlands and lay them side by side. Twist your garlands together. Begin and end your garland by twisting, but to keep the middle together, you can switch to using a single wired pine stem from one garland and wrapping it around the base wire of the other garland. Once your two garlands become one, fluff the garland.

If you need to make the Christmas garland longer, before you twist, use the wire on the end to wrap around the connecting garland's middle wire then fluff your pine needles around it. After this, start twisting your two longer garlands together.

Here was my 18-foot garland after Step 1. Please excuse my unfinished wood floor in dire need of refinishing ... someday.

Note: I didn't want lights in my garland but if you do, at this point you want to add your lights.

Step

Clip apart your stems. I did this randomly, keeping some in a cluster and some as singles. This all depends on how your garland rest; you'll have to play with it a little to get it just right.

Tip: Hang your garland from the first step on your mantel and secure it into place first, then add the cut floral stems.

Step

First add your draping evergreen. I added it in the places I wanted it to go along just the top of my mantel first. Save some for your sides.

Step

Next, cut bunches off your magnolia leaves from the stem and slip them into the greenery where you have placed your draping evergreen. You can secure them with hot glue. I just simply wrapped the excess stem of the magnolia bunch around the middle wire of the garland then fluffed the pine stems to hide it.

Do this for the entire garland.

Note: You can easily take off the leaves of the magnolia bunch. I thought more than 4-5 leaves in a bunch looked a little crowded so I just simply took a few off. I used those single leaves as well (see step 6).

Step

Add a little sprig of the Eucalyptus floral.

This was what each of my "bunches" looked like. Some were bigger and some were smaller.

Step

To make use of the single leaves I took off from a larger bunch, I glued them together in twos or threes.

After gluing, I would add them into the garland. If they are not staying in place you could add a little dab of hot glue to your base garland.

Step

Now it's time to add to the hanging part of the garland. For the draping evergreen and the Magnolia leaves, I simply wrapped a single pine stem around the cut stem of the floral. Fluff around the twisted stem to hide it. (Has anyone counted how many times I have used the word "fluff" in this post?)

Step

To keep the Eucalyptus stem in place you will have to add a little dab of hot glue.

I love the way my garland turned out. It is unique and inexpensive.

Yes, it is fake, but adding in the layered stems really helps to make it look real.

When Christmas is over, I will deconstruct it (what is not glued) and store it all together. I might even add to it next year. I think these paper magnolia flowers would be a pretty addition.