I thought of, thought through, sourced, and made this project all on a Saturday morning last week. I did it completely on a whim, but oh man this DIY Christmas lyric garland is my favourite addition to our holiday decor this year! This is the kind of project you can work away at in front of the fire while you listen to Christmas music or a movie you only need to half pay attention to. And it’s so easy and (depending how many lyrics you string on) super fast. So no! It is not to late to whip one up yourself this holiday season.
I chose the lyrics from “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”. There’s something about those opening lyrics that feel so warm and inviting, like a great big Christmas hug. So pick your favourite Christmas song and get making!
The below links are from amazon (affiliate links), but if it’s safe for you to go shopping right now, I got my wooden beads at the dollar store and the alphabet beads at Michaels.
M A T E R I A L S
- Wooden beads
- Wooden alphabet beads
- Fishing line or thin twine
- Black fine tipped pen (this one is my absolute favourite)
Here are the steps, but be sure to keep reading for some tricks and tips!
S T E P S
- Tie a loop in your string, making sure it’s very strong (I triple knot)
- Start stringing your beads on using the lyrics of your favourite Christmas song. Put a plain bead in between each word. I also liked to put some plain beads before and after the alphabet beads.
- When you’ve finished your lyrics, tie a loop on the other end (also super strong, like triple). If you’re planning to string this on your tree, leave some slack on the string before you tie. This way you can have space where you can hang the garland on a branch without the lyrics being obstructed by the tree.
- Keep reading for some tips and tricks!
Tip 1: This is totally an optional step, but it made the job a heck of a lot easier. I dumped out all the letter beads into a bowl and organized them in rows as per the alphabet. It was a lot of work up front but taking that time beforehand made stringing the beads together much more fun than having to stop every 2 seconds to search for a letter.
Tip 2: I got a bunch of garland made before I realized I only had 5 r’s. What kind of alphabet collection only has 5 r’s!? And then I ran out of E’s and things were looking grim. I wouldn’t be able to finish the stanza! Rather than giving up, I used a fine tipped sharpie to make my own R’s by adding a line to P, and E’s by adding a bottom line to F. (Sadly I ran out of S’s a little while later and there’s no letter you can turn into S…).
