The Best Ways to String Garlands + 9 You Can Make from What's in the Pantry

Garlands create rhythm and punctuation in tree decor, giving the eye a place to pause as it

travels around discovering all the objects placed throughout the branches. There are a number of ways to string them:

To make a dramatic spiral, wind the garland around the top of your tree in tightly spaced revolutions, and then graduate to more openly spaced turns as you wind your way down and around (the distance between diagonal lines is perceived as a progression in scale and makes for pleasingly weighted proportions). To determine how long a garland you need, do a trial run using a piece of string.

For maximum textural effect, decorate the upper, middle, and lower sections of the tree in garlands of graduating size. Use small objects for the garlands that will go at the top of the tree, mid-sized objects for the midsection, and larger objects for the lower portion of the tree. (The garlands can also be made from objects that are all the same size—just be sure to space them together a little more closely at the top and gradually widen the distance between them as you work your way down the tree.) I like to divide the tree into at least three tiers; you can do more if you like.

A garland doesn't have to be a continuous spiral or a full circle; it can also start and stop like a decorative swag, each separate length of garland dipping once or twice in a strategically placed spot on the tree. This is a particularly useful technique if you have a short, vintage garland, or a strand of beads you want to include in your design.

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