How to Make a Winter Garland
It’s the time of year when the Christmas decorations come down. Since that can be a little sad, many of us leave winter themed decorations. Or, better yet, we make some new ones! Today, Meg of Maker Magic with Meg Epps by Lyndly Grove is showing us how to make a winter garland. She uses Artist Resin, beautiful glitters, and some other fun items to make her holiday garland. And the results are beautiful!
The winter blues can hit hard this time of year. Especially in the northern climates. The holidays are over and the days are still cold and dark. We artists are lucky though! We have our craft rooms to turn to for light, fun, and lots of sparkle. In the video below, Meg shows us how to make a winter garland that is perfect for your winter decor. This DIY garland adds beauty with a fabulous rustic winter feel. So grab your silicone molds and your favorite glitters, and let’s get crafting!
How to Make a Winter Garland
We love this winter garland for lots of reasons. First, it’s just so darn cute! And it is such a great way to branch out with our resin art. Many of us love making coasters, tumblers, and such. But it is fun to expand into making home decor items too. Another thing we love about this garland is that it is so adaptable. We can swap out the winter molds and make a sweet garland for any theme or holiday!
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Heart molds and Xs and Os would make a cute Valentine’s garland! You can do a sports themed garland for the sports fans in your life. Or a fall garland for the cozy time of year. You could even make a baby themed one for a baby shower or nursery. The options are endless!
Garland Design Options
There are so many ways to customize your winter garlands to suit your own tastes or those of your customers. You can use any color combos you want, just choose glitters and mica powders that compliment each other. You can also use any type of greenery that suits your fancy. Or go with what you already have on hand.
You don’t have to just stick with ornament molds either! Meg used ornament molds for some of her garland attachments. But she also used earring and keychain molds. Most of us have a stash of holiday themed molds. This is a great opportunity to pull them out and put them to use.
Not a fan of boas and feathers? That’s ok too! You can swap out the feathers for a different type of texture. Or just skip that part all together. As with all of our tutorials, this project is meant to be a jumping off point for you. You can make one very similar to Meg’s. And, once you have the hang of it, you can let your own creativity take the reigns!
Watch the Video Tutorial Here!
How to Make a Winter Garland
Materials
- Christmas Tree and Snowflake Molds
- Any other winter ornament or earring molds that you want to use
- Counter Culture DIY Artist Resin
- Glitter in any color scheme that you want
- Mica Powder optional
- Pop of Color Paints a color that matches your glitter
- Protective gloves
- Silicone mat
- Filter mask
- Mixing cups
- medicine cups
- Mixing sticks
- Jute string
- Floral wire
- Winter greenery
- Feather boa Meg used white
- Wooden beads
- Drill with small bit
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
Instructions
- Start by making sure that your molds are clean and ready to go. You can use the sticky side of any large tape to remove any dust and debris.
- Next, mix up a batch of Artist Resin according to the package instructions. Measure equal amounts of Parts A and B. Then pour part B into part A and mix well for 3-5 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of your cup as you go, as well as your mixing stick. This ensures that all of your epoxy will be well incorporated.
- Then separate your resin into medicine cups. One for every color combination you will be using.
- Add your glitter and or mica to your cups and stir well to combine.
- Then pour your colorful resin into your molds. Let the resin cure for a day.
- Demold your ornaments. Then use the paint color you chose to paint the word that is etched into the tree ornament. Let that dry.
- Make as many ornaments as you want/need for your garland. When they are all ready, use a drill to drill out the small hole in your ornaments.
- Decide how long you want your garland to be and then cut twice as much jute as that. Fold your string in half, using it this way will give you extra support for your ornaments and other fun things.
- Starting with the folded part of the jute, start to string your garland. Start with 3 wooden beads.
- Then, move to the other end of the string. Use a piece of tape to put your two ends together. This will make it easier to string the rest of your garland items.
- Now it's time to assemble. Start by stringing an ornament on. You can tie it off of leave it as is.
- Next, cut a small section of greenery. Use floral wire to attach it, wrapping it around your string.
- Now cut a piece of the boa. Then make your boa piece into a sort of circle and use hot glue to place it in the center of your greenery. Or you can wrap it around the center of the greenery and glue it in place. Use whichever method looks best on your garland.
- Continue on adding another ornament, then greenery and feathers. Keep going until your garland is full. Then add three more wooden balls at the end of the garland. Tie off the end of the garland and you're done!
The Finishing Touches
And that’s how you make a fabulous winter garland! Display them on your mantel, bookcase top, or anywhere else you want. Meg also suggests that these garlands are super cute in the background of your product pics. They are fun to make and even more fun to display!
If you love this garland and want another great DIY home decor project, check out our DIY Holiday Doorhanger post. As always, a big thanks to Meg for sharing her time and talent with us. If you loved learning from Meg and want to see more of her creations and tutorials you can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and you can check out her Facebook group, Curious Crafters. You can also join her mentoring group, Maker Magic for extra information and support from two amazing resin artists!
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