1st Craft of the New Year - Ribbon Garland

When my husband and I first got married we had very few Christmas decorations, despite my inclination to decorate the house to the nines.  We also had little money to put into comercial decoriations, or hand made ones for that matter.  Our first Christmas our decorations consisted of a 1 foot tall tree, covered in small glass bulbs, and large bows I made from bargin basement ribbon.  I was appalled at the prices of the ribbon at the time, and decided I wouldn't waste any.

Fast forward several years, and nearly every scrap of Christmas ribbon that has passed under my nose has been saved in some way.  The same ribbon has been used in my family for years now, getting a bit shorter every year, as at least 8 inches of every piece has been added to my Christmas ribbon garland.

This year the garland grew to about 20 feet of recycled ribbon, each link 8 inches in circumfrence.  

How can you make your own Christmas ribbon garland?

1.  Ask your friends and family to give you the Christmas ribbon they would otherwise throw away.

2.  Cut the ribbon into 8 inch pieces.

3.  Sew the first "link" in the chain by matching the short ends of the ribbon (right sides together) and machine or hand sewing securely.

4.  The second and all subsequent links in the chain is made by inserting the 8 inch length of ribbon through the prevous link in the chain, wrapping the ribbon around the link so that the short ends of the ribbons match (right sides together), and machine or hand sew securely.

5.  Repeat step 4 until all ribbon lengths are incorrperated into the chain.

The chain lengths can be turned right side out as you work, or after all the links have been made.

The chain can be added to year after year, making a christmas timeline of sorts, showing change over time.  My chain is already showing differences over time, as well as tremendous growth.  I can only imagine what it will look like in a few more years time.