Laura always manages to buy the best gifts so when she turned up with these little felt cacti for me I was delighted. I do love anything that livens up my house a bit! They were originally meant to be Christmas tree decorations, but since we got them in January I had to find something else to do with mine. They are far too cute to hide away until the end of the year! I’m always trying to prettify my little computer corner so I thought I would just hang them on the wall around my work-space but that seemed a little disconnected; so I came up with the idea to make a DIY cactus garland to hang above my computer.
Instructions to make your DIY Cactus Garland
Supplies
- Some felt cactus decorations
- A little twine
- Scissors
- A darning/tapestry needle
- A ruler (this is optional – I have to admit I measured after and cut where I thought looked good!)
My cacti came from Paperchase and unfortunately they are out of stock at the minute but I’m sure you can find something similar. This technique works well enough for any little decorations you can’t bear to put away after Christmas! I do realise that it’s the middle of January and most of you will have cleared away by now, but I know there are some people out there that haven’t quite managed it yet!!
Method
- If your decorations have any hanging loops cut them off. Then line your decorations up and rearrange them until you have a group that you are happy with. I started off with 6 cacti but in the end I only used 5 for my diy cactus garland because I just thought an odd number looked better!
- Next cut a length of twine approximately 1.5m long. You can change the length to suit yourself. It’s always better to cut something too long as it can be adjusted afterwards. It’s not so easy to fix things if you don’t cut enough twine!
- Thread your twine onto a large eyed darning/tapestry needle. This bit can be a little bit fiddly. It’s best to use as thin a needle as you can manage to get the twine into if you’re sewing up little felted decorations like mine. Next sew the twine through the top of your first decoration and pull it though until it is approximately 30cm from the end. Then once the decoration is in the right place tie a simple granny knot in the top to secure it. This means that your decorations won’t move around when you hang your DIY garland up!
Next repeat what you just did until all your decorations are on the twine. My cacti are around 15cm apart but use your own judgement for the space where you want to hang your garland. I continued sewing the cacti on and knotting to secure until all 5 of my cacti were on the twine.
Hanging
The next thing is preparing your garland to hang it up. You can just tie your garland to what ever is available but I wanted a loop at each end. This makes the garland a bit easier to move about when I want to replace the garland from time to time. To make the loop wrap the twine around your finger a couple of times. Then take your finger out but keep the loop secure.
Next wrap the loop with the tail of the twine. When you feel that the loop is pretty secure tie a granny knot in the tail of the twine. Now you are left with a loop that is perfect for hanging on any little hook you might have.
I used these little adhesive hooks that I bought in my local pound shop. The garland isn’t very heavy so it doesn’t need a mega secure mooring. Command hooks are perfect if you don’t want to (or aren’t allowed to) bang a nail into your wall!
Ta dah! My finished DIY cactus garland in situ. My lovely chalkboard was a present and it is perfect for helping me to stay organised and my cactus garland really helps to cheer my little work corner up! I even managed to use the last little cactus to adorn my monitor.
This was my first proper bit of crafting this year but I have loads in store for you guys. What was your first crafty project in 2017? Send me pics!
