16 DIY Garland Ideas Using Things You Probably Already Own

Why Starting With What You Already Own Works Better

My favorite garland I have ever made cost exactly zero dollars. It was a paper chain built entirely from a stack of old magazines I was about to recycle anyway, cut into one-inch strips and looped together over a Sunday afternoon while watching television.

Starting with materials already in your house does two things. It keeps the project cheap, and it usually looks less uniform and more interesting than a garland built from matching store-bought pieces, since mismatched paper or fabric brings its own texture and color variation that you could not easily buy on purpose.

There is also a practical timing benefit. A trip to the craft store adds at least twenty minutes to any project before you have even started cutting, so working from a drawer of scraps gets you to the fun part faster, especially on a weeknight when a full afternoon is not realistic.

Working with recycled materials also lowers the stakes on a project you have never tried before. Cutting into a magazine you were about to toss out feels very different from cutting into cardstock you just paid for, which makes garland a good first project for anyone nervous about wasting money on a craft that might not turn out how they pictured it.

Six Garlands Made From Paper You Already Have

1. Classic magazine or junk mail paper chain

Cut one-inch strips from magazine pages or colorful junk mail, loop and glue each strip through the last. A 6-foot chain takes about 30 minutes and uses paper otherwise headed for recycling, and the mismatched colors from different pages give the finished garland more visual texture than a single-color version.

2. Newspaper star garland

Fold and cut simple star shapes from newspaper, then string them with a needle and thread through the top point of each star. A light coat of white craft paint on the edges gives newsprint a bit more polish if you want it for a photo-heavy display.

3. Cardstock scrap circle garland

Leftover cardstock scraps from other projects, punched into circles with a large hole punch, string easily onto twine for a polka-dot style garland, and this is one of the best uses for the odd-shaped leftover pieces most paper crafters end up with.

4. Book page garland for a reading nook

Pages from a damaged or discarded book, folded into triangles or fans, make a literary-feeling garland that works year-round, not just for a specific holiday, which makes it one of the few projects on this list with no seasonal expiration date.

5. Brown paper bag leaf garland

Cut simple leaf shapes from brown paper grocery bags for a rustic, low-cost fall garland that costs nothing beyond the twine, and the slightly uneven brown tones actually mimic real dried leaves better than uniform craft paper does.

6. Envelope pennant garland

Old envelopes, cut diagonally in half, make instant triangle pennants with a finished edge already built in from the envelope's original shape, which saves you a full step compared to cutting triangles from a flat sheet.

Five Garlands Made From Fabric Scraps

7. Old t-shirt fabric bunting

Cut worn-out t-shirts into triangles for a soft, no-fray bunting that reuses fabric otherwise headed for the donation bin or the trash, and knit fabric like t-shirt material curls slightly at raw edges, which actually adds nice texture instead of looking unfinished.

8. Denim scrap garland from old jeans

Denim holds up outdoors better than most fabrics, making old jeans a strong choice for a porch or patio garland that needs to survive some weather, and a single pair of worn jeans usually yields enough denim for a 6 to 8 foot garland.

9. Ribbon scrap tassel garland

Leftover ribbon from gift wrapping, cut into short lengths and tied to twine in clusters, makes a colorful tassel-style garland with zero new purchases, and saving ribbon scraps through the year specifically for this project is a habit worth starting now.

10. Sock or mitten mini garland

Mismatched socks or old mittens clipped to a length of twine make a playful, low-effort garland for a kid's room or playroom, and it is one of the few projects on this list that requires no cutting or gluing at all.

11. Quilting scrap triangle bunting

If you sew, quilting scraps too small for a full project are exactly the right size for triangle bunting flags, and this is a great way to finally use up the small end pieces most quilters accumulate over time.

Five Garlands Made From Kitchen and Household Items

12. Dried orange slice garland

Orange slices dried in a low oven for a few hours, then strung on twine, add a natural scent along with color, and they last a full season if kept dry and away from direct humidity.

13. Cinnamon stick and dried bay leaf garland

Bundling cinnamon sticks with dried bay leaves at intervals along twine gives you a fragrant garland that works well near an entry rather than directly over a heat source, since warmth intensifies the scent faster than you might expect.

14. Coffee filter flower garland

Coffee filters, dyed lightly with food coloring and shaped into simple flowers, make a soft, budget garland for a nursery or spring display, and a full box of filters costs less than a single bunch of fresh flowers.

15. Egg carton flower garland

Cardboard egg cartons cut into flower shapes and painted make a surprisingly sturdy garland base for kids' craft projects, and the individual cups already have a natural cupped shape that mimics real flower petals with almost no extra shaping needed.

16. Wine cork garland

Saved wine corks, drilled through the center and strung on twine, make a rustic garland well suited to a kitchen or dining room, and a collection built up over several months of normal wine drinking usually yields enough corks for a full garland without any extra purchase.

Hanging and Storing Garland So It Lasts

Paper garlands store flat in a folder or large envelope, which keeps them from crushing between seasons, and I label each folder by season so I am not unfolding three different garlands looking for the right one every year.

Fabric and felt garlands do best rolled loosely rather than folded, since folding creates permanent creases over a full year in storage. A simple paper towel tube works well as a form to roll a fabric garland around before storing it in a bin.

Dried fruit and herb garlands do not store well and are generally meant for single-season use, so plan on remaking those fresh each year rather than trying to preserve them, since the scent and appearance both fade noticeably after several months.

For anything hung outdoors, choose weather-resistant materials like denim or laminated paper, and expect a shorter lifespan than the same garland indoors, generally a single season rather than the five or more years a well-stored indoor garland can achieve.

Garland Versus Banner: When to Use Each

Garland and banners solve slightly different problems. A garland works best when you want continuous coverage along a long surface, a mantel, a staircase railing, or a doorway frame. A banner works better as a single focal statement, like a name, a greeting, or a bold repeated shape hung in one spot rather than trailing the full length of a surface.

Many of the projects on this list can go either direction. The triangle pennant technique described above works as a compact banner over a single doorway or stretched into a much longer garland along a full staircase, depending on how many pieces you cut, so the same basic skill covers both use cases without learning anything new.

When I am not sure which one a space needs, I look at the shape of the surface first. Long, narrow surfaces like railings and staircases almost always call for garland, while a single wide, flat wall or an empty space above a doorway tends to call for a banner instead. Matching the format to the surface, rather than to the holiday, generally leads to a better-looking result either way.

The Takeaway

The most useful DIY garland ideas start with materials you already own, paper headed for recycling, fabric too worn for donation, or ribbon scraps from old gifts, rather than a fresh trip to the craft store. Pick one project from this list that matches what is already sitting in a drawer or closet, and you will likely finish it in under an hour without spending a cent.

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