Add color to your holiday decor with this easy Christmas craft! And the best part? Learning how to make a paper chain garland requires no crafting skills.
Not only is this project a budget-friendly way to decorate for Christmas, but you can customize your paper chain to fit the exact colors of your holiday decor.
Whether you want more color or classic red and green, a paper chain will help you add more impact to your overall decor (and for less than $20). Here’s how:
Head over to my Youtube channel to see how I made my paper chain garland (and how I hung it up)!
Materials
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- Paper trimmer
- Cardstock paper
- Stapler
- Command hooks
- Greenery garland (optional)
- Pink tinsel for bows
If you need help picking out a color palette for your Christmas decor, or for your home in general, be sure to check out my book Colorful Living!
How to Cut Paper
There are two ways you could go about cutting your paper for this project:
- Thin strips will give you more overall length and they will also appear more chain-like in nature.
- Fat, shorter strips to give a chunky, more tight knit garland.
I went with option two!
I cut each 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper into four equal parts. Making a mark on your paper trimmer with washi tape will help you get every piece the same size without any extra work.
How to Make a Paper Chain Garland
Now that you have all your paper cut, it’s time to put it all together!
The fastest way is with a stapler. Make a loop with a strip of paper and secure with two staples. Add your next piece of paper and staple again. Continue this process until your garland is your desired length.
Don’t worry about the staples being visible, they’ll be covered by the next piece of paper.
To get the right length, it helps to make a section of loops then measure it. Take the measurement of your overall needed area and divide it by the small section you made. That will tell you how many sections to make total.
To keep it simple, I made my section one full run of my color palette.
How to Hang a Garland
To make my garland a bit more festive, I added pre-lit greenery to my door frame first. Here’s how:
1. I added Command hooks to the wall according to directions.
2. I used metal wire to loop around the hook. It needs to be secure and tight, so it helps to loop around and over the hoop a few times. The Youtube video has a visual of this process.
3. I tied the metal wire around the garland to hold in place.
4. To hang the paper chain garland, I used clear fishing wire through one of the paper loops. I tied the wire to the same Command hook as the greenery.
Bows are optional, but they are fun! They can hang directly on the paper garland.
And that’s how to make a paper chain garland!
There are so many fun color combos and way to customize this classic craft project. If you need some ideas to help get you started, here are a few others I wish I tried:
Paper Chain Garland Variations
- Try color blocking! A green section of 12 pieces, then a pink, then red, etc. Repeat!
- Use a different material like felt or ribbon to give texture.
- Bring in pattern by painting your paper or picking up scrapbooking paper.
Let me know if you give this Christmas craft a try! If you have any questions, just leave a comment below!
Related:
Check out the blog archives for more Christmas crafts!