I wanted to use my 8 Menorahs design to make a Chanukah garland. I love decorating with garlands - they are simple, beautiful, festive, and easy to hang, even if you've got limited space for decorations.
This one is lovely, durable, and can be reused year after year. Plus, it is fairly affordable: the total cost to make two garlands is ~$23.00
Supplies:
This uses one 2' by 1' "swatch" of peel and stick wallpaper from my Spoonflower store, which costs $9 without discounts. You've still got time to order it before Chanukah* - I'd recommend ordering by 12/9 to make sure you'll get the wallpaper in time. Or, make one for next year!
- 2' by 1' swatch of my 8 Menorahs design on peel and stick wallpaper. This will be enough to make two garlands, with a few menorah "stickers" left over. $9
- Paper or card stock for backing. I used thick yellow card stock: two x 8" by 11" or 12" by 12" sheets will do it. Michaels and Meiningers have them for around a dollar each, so ~$2. You could really use any paper or cardboard here - I'd advise something thick enough to stay flat and thin enough to easily hole-punch through. Wrapping paper perhaps? You can order some Chanukah paper on my website, leahbry.com
- Hole puncher
- Scissors. The peel and stick wallpaper is thick! I found using my beefy kitchen shears made it easier to cut out the pieces.
- 2 yards of 1/2" ribbon for each garland. I used blue velvet ribbon from Fancy Tiger. It's $3/yard, so total of $12
Instructions:
- Cut out individual menorahs from the wallpaper (backing still ON), leaving as much room around each one as possible without cutting into its neighbors - you'll trim them later, so it doesn't have to be particularly neat. You should be left with at least two of each menorah "night" plus a few extras to use as stickers.
- One by one, peel the backing off each menorah and stick it to your card stock. Stick them as close together as possible without overlapping, to make the most of your card stock.
- Cut out the individual menorahs, now taking care to make smooth edges, and leaving as much space at the top of each one as possible. This will ensure you have room to make two hole punches on each one, without punching into a menorah.
- Make two hole punches into the top of each menorah, avoiding punching into the menorah design itself.
- Thread the ribbon through the cards. I like wrapping the end of my ribbon in tape to make it easy to push through the holes. For each card, start at the top surface (front face), and thread the ribbon down through the first hole (to the back), then back up through the second hole. Don't worry too much about twisting or spacing at this point. String 8 menorahs per garland, in the order of your choice. I put them in order from nights 1 - 8. (I guess it's debatable which direction this should go - left to right? Or right to left? Up to you!)
- Now work on spacing the Menorahs evenly, and untwisting any areas where the ribbon has become twisted. I ended up with about 18" of ribbon at either end of the menorahs, with about 3-4" of ribbon between each Menorah.
- Tie off the ribbon ends. I used a simple knot to do this. You can trim each ribbon end at an angle, which helps prevent fraying.
- Decorate with your new Chanukah garland!
At the end of the holiday, gently pack up your garland to use it again for years to come!
Let me know if you've got any questions? I'd also LOVE to see any garlands you make - post pics and tag me @leahbry on Instagram and FB!
Chappy Chanukah!
~Leah
*Spoonflower's shipping times are generally quite fast, but I can make no guarantees!