Holidays Archives - Page 10 of 30

I’m a raffia fan. I love how it gives everything that Americana country casual look. I decided it would be the perfect thing to make a star garland from for my Captain America or summer patriotic (I’m thinking 4th of July or even Memorial Day) party decorations. The only problem is most raffia comes in two foot long pieces. Perfect for making bows, but a little short to make a garland. So I tied it together in a bow and put stars between the bows. It worked perfectly.

The star garland would be fun to for the kids to help make. You can put them to work punching holes and adding the stars to the raffia.
The finished garland makes a wonderful indoor or outdoor 4th of July or barbecue party decoration. String it around the deck rail, or hang it from the fireplace mantle.
Materials:

Blue raffia
Red white and blue card stock
Star cookie cutter, or scrapbook pattern (about 3”) or die cut machine
Round hole punch

Directions:
1. Decide how long you’d like your garland to be, each section of the garland includes one bow with one piece of raffia, one red, one white, and one blue star, and measures about 6-8 inches.
2. Cut out your stars by tracing them first with a star pattern, or using a star shaped cookie cutter. If you use 8 ½ x 11” card stock you’ll be able to cut about 6 stars per sheet. If you use 12 x 12” card stock you’ll get about 9 stars per sheet. Quick tip: If you have a Cricut or other die cut machine you can use a star pattern to cut your stars quicker!
3. Start by cutting out your stars, cut out one red, one white, and one blue star for each section of garland you want to create. For about 6 feet of garland you’ll need 9 to 10 of each of red, white and blue stars.
4. Once you’ve cut out the stars use the hole punch to punch two holes in the middle of each star. Punch one hole to the left side of the center, one to the right (see photo).
5. Take two pieces of blue raffia, and tie them together by making a bow. Pull the center of the bow tight so it won’t come loose later. Leave the outside ends of the raffia long, so you can add the stars.
6. On the long end of the raffia add one of each color of star, (one red, one white, one blue) by feeding the raffia up through the first hole and back down through the second hole in the center of the star. Add red, white and then add a blue star.
7. Add another piece of raffia by tying a bow with the end of the piece you just strung the stars on, and a new piece of raffia. Tie the end after the stars are added to the new piece of raffia to make a bow, and begin the process again.
8. You’ll end up with a bow, a red star, a white star and a blue star, then another bow, red, white, blue star. Keep repeating the process until the raffia star garland is as long as you need it to be.
9. Tie off the end by making a loop to hang your raffia star garland.

Kid’s Fun Tip:
Make this garland in other colors to decorate for other holidays. It would also make a nice garland for your Christmas tree.