DIY Red, White, and Blue Garland

DIY Red White and Blue Garland

This whimsical garland is the perfect decor to string-up for any patriotic holiday. A true DIY, you can be as creative as you want with the designs on the stars, from a festive set of stripes to a more simple look. 

Materials:

  • Small piece of cardboard
  • Recycled white paper – can be reused from notebooks, gift bags, craft paper, etc. 
  • Blue Non-toxic Tempera paint
  • Red Non-toxic Tempera paint
  • White thread
  • White string or yarn

Also break out:

  • Sewing needle
  • Pencil
  • Craft scissors 
  • Paint brushes

Directions:

  1. On half of the paper, paint lines, dots, stripes, and other fun patterns with blue paint. On the other half of the paper, repeat with the red paint. On one third of the papers, paint with both the red and the blue paint. 
  2. Let all of the papers dry completely, flip, and repeat step one on the blank side before letting the papers dry completely.  
  3. Create a star-shaped template out of the cardboard to use to trace on each paper. Draw a star about 2-3 inches in diameter on your cardboard and cut it out. 
  4. Place the star template on each paper and trace with a pencil until all of the paper has been covered with stars. A typical 11 inch by 8 inch piece of paper will have about 6-10 stars depending on how you lay it out. 
  5. Cut out each star carefully. Erase any pencil marks left on the paper. 
  6. Cut four 4-foot pieces of thread. Thread the needle with the first piece of thread and tie a small knot on the end of the string. 
  7. On each star, run the needle with thread through the top and bottom of the stars. Make sure to adjust the first star to sit on the bottom knot. Thread the stars in the order of red, blue, mixed, red blue mixed, red blue… etc. until each string has been filled up. Each string should have 12-15 stars on it. If you have extra stars, cut more thread and repeat. 
  8. Once the string is filled with stars, tie a loop at the end of the string to use to hang with. Adjust the stars to be equal distances apart. 
  9. Tie up your string or yarn to the desired location you would like to hand your garland.
  10. Run the loops of thread on the string and adjust to spread out the star garland.