How to Make Flower Garlands
Just as flowers can add a touch of elegance and beauty to any environment, flower garlands are a colorful and cute project for garden parties, celebrations and everyday crafting. Simple to create and sure to please, flower garlands have been made for centuries to accent outfits and adorn festive occasions, and are a fast and fun project for even the beginning crafter.
Things You'll Need
- Two dozen flowers (carnations or hibiscus flowers are most often used)
- Needle
- Thread
- Scissors
Instructions
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1
Using your scissors, cut each flower at the base of the calyx (where the stem meets the round bottom of the flower.) Do one flower at a time and work carefully to avoid snipping too close to the flower itself.
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2
Thread your needle with 36 inches of doubled thread. This length will create a garland that falls to about the center of the chest and has leftover thread for knotting the garland at the end of the process.
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3
Insert your needle from the head of the flower to the stem. Repeat this step on 12 of your 24 flowers, gently compressing the flowers together as you work.
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4
For the remaining 12 flowers, switch directions and insert your needle from stem to head.
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5
Once all your flowers are threaded and compressed together, tie the ends of the thread in three or four basic knots to ensure that the garland does not come unstrung.
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Tips & Warnings
To ensure that your garland stays fresh for as long as possible, you may want to spray it with a floral or satin acrylic spray. This will give the blossoms a slight sheen, but keep them from wilting or drying out as quickly as they would normally. When selecting the flowers for your garland, keep in mind that bigger is not always better. Roses may be beautiful, but most types are to large to compress onto a garland. In the same vein, very small flowers also should not be used for garlands, as they are too delicate and will not hold up under the process. You can also make garlands using silk flowers if you want a bigger selection in color. Silk flower garlands will last much longer than those made of real flowers.
Make sure to exercise caution when threading the flowers; wear a thimble if you are worried about pricking your fingers. Also, make sure your flowers are not playing host to any insects, as this could result in bites. To ensure a bug-free garland, run your flowers under cool water and dry them with a paper towel before beginning your project.
