DIY Bell and Bead Christmas Garland
Here is a tutorial for a DIY bell and bead Christmas garland. Both are very simple to make and will add simple sweet charm to your Christmas decor for years to come.
Although I love doing DIY crafts all year long, I get especially crafty as Christmas approaches. I’ve made quite a number of DIY Christmas decorations over the last 8 years of our marriage; from tree skirts to ornaments.
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Last Year’s Christmas
Last year, I think I was still reeling from our move and just didn’t feel like I had the energy or brain power to decorate or create much for Christmas. Ben and I had dreamed of owning a home with a fireplace for years and I was sad not to decorate our much longed-for fireplace mantel last Christmas. But this year I’ve been feeling super inspired! And I’ve been thinking about decorating for the holidays for quite a number of months now.
Our living room still isn’t finished being painted. We’ve been mid-project for many months now. We are trying to finish the painting before we put our Christmas tree up. I don’t think we will get to painting the fireplace this year though, so it will be seventies red brick most likely for the holidays. That’s ok though, because we are doing what is most important right now and home projects can take a back seat to time with our kids. Back to the diy garlands though…
Supplies for DIY Christmas Bell and Wood Bead Garland
How to DIY a Christmas Bell Garland
Like I said earlier, this is such an easy project. It took me all of 10 minutes to do. All you will need to make this garland are bells and string or twine. I decided to use white cotton string to contrast with my dark red brick fireplace.
Video Tutorial for a DIY Christmas Bell Garland
- Step 1: I measured and cut my string about a foot longer than I thought I needed so it wouldn’t be too short once I was done.
- Step 2: Starting from about the middle of the string, I began knotting my bells. It was easier easier to work my way out from the middle of the string than to start at one end and go to the other. I just did a simple overhand knot so that I could loosen and readjust if I wanted too. Each bell ended up being spaced about 3 inches apart. I just eyeballed it as I went.
It turned out so cute. The little bells I used have such a lovely ringing sound. It’s so pleasant to listen to. And what says Christmas more than bells?
I knew the bell garland was going to look a little scant by itself so I decided it needed a friend to hang with it.
How to DIY A Christmas Wood Bead Garland and Tassel
This DIY took a little more time than the first garland but it’s very easy to do as well. I used the same cotton string and a large needle to thread the string through the beads.
Video Tutorial for a DIY Wood Bead Christmas Garland with Tassels
How to make the Bead Garland
- Step 1: Once again, I measured the length of string I needed to stretch across my mantel. (I wish I had made it a bit longer so I had more to work with at the ends. Don’t make the same mistake I did, be sure to cut the string longer than you need).
- Step 2: Next I played around with different arrangements of the beads to come up with something I liked. It was a nine bead pattern. I gave each bead size a number to make it easy to remember my pattern (3, 5, 1, 1, 4, 1, 2, 4, 4). I think the garland would have been beautiful no matter what arrangement I came up with so I probably didn’t need to spend as much time on this as I did.
- Step 3: I then repeated my 9 bead pattern over and over until I reach my desired length. I started and finished my ends with descending bead sizes (started with 1, 2, 3 and finished with 3, 2, 1) to give it a nice look.
- Step 4: Finally I tied a knot at the end to keep the bead from slipping off.
How to make the Tassel for the Wood Bead Garland
After completing the beading, I created a little tassel out of the cotton string to give the garland a finished look. The supplies needed to make the tassels are string, scissors and a needle.
- Step 1 – I wrapped the string around my hands twelve times and then cut the end.
- Step 2 – Next, I cut a small piece of string to tie all the string wrapped around my hands together to keep it from coming apart while I finished the tassel. This string will be taken off at the end.
- Step 3 – Then I cut a new piece of string about 12 inches long, and tied it around the bunch of wrapped string. Each time I went around the now forming tassels did a simple knot and pulled tight. After doing that about 5 times, I tied a double knot to finish if off.
- Step 4 – Then I threaded those leftover strings through the middle of the tassel to hide them.
- Step 5 – Finally I cut all the tassels strings loose and evened them up at the bottom.
- Before adding the tassels to my bead garland, I cut the temporary string I tied back in step 2. Then I threaded the end of my garland through the middle of the tassel and tied it on with a tight knot. Finally snipping off any extra strings.
The tassels, although a bit more work, really completes the look of the bead garland.
How to hang the DIY Bell and Bead Christmas Garland
We haven’t decorated for Christmas yet but I’ve enjoyed seeing this pretty little addition hanging above the mantel. Hopefully we will get our tree up real soon.
I thought the easiest way to hang these garlands up would be with temporary command hooks. I didn’t want to put any holes in the mantel if I could help it. These are the command hooks I used and they work well.
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