Make a vintage Christmas garland

One of the things I love about vintage decorations is how the same few things are used again and again in different ways. Tiny glass beads show up everywhere - on corsages and package trims, on garlands and inside bells. I recently saw a vintage garland made of glass beads and little frosted bells, but not wanting to spend what the shop was asking for it, I decided to make one myself. I made one  in less than 15 minutes, while I was waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven Thursday.

All you need are glass beads and little frosted bells. Glass bead garlands are pretty easy to come by, especially the ones that are missing a lot of beads and will need to be restrung anyway. Vintage bells aren't as common, but if you can't find any, you could easily glitter up some from the craft store.

You'll need string and a needle with a big eye, too.

Then all you need to do is string the beads and add a bell every so often ...

and find a place to hang it.

And speaking of garland and bells, check out this vintage wrapping paper. It's called "Old Fashioned Ornaments" and was made by Tie Tie in 1956. I know this because I'm an expert on vintage wrapping paper and, um, well, this information happened to be printed on the edge of the paper.  I'm going to feature a different paper every day until Christmas (at least that's the plan) over in the sidebar.  Do I have a different favorite vintage wrapping paper in my collection for every one of the next 25 days? Do you really need to ask?

Comments

[julie thompson]

Hi Barbara...just popping in to tell you how much I love my little angel package...very sweet! And I passed on a round vintage tablecloth with fringe at the thrift store last week...may have to see if it's still there waiting to be made into a tree skirt.

[Heidi German]

Love it! I've seen the Bethany Lowe garland you're referring to and I thought the same thing. She has a similar garland for 4th of July that would be fun if you can find the right color of bells/beads. I'll have to see if I can scare up some of the bells. Thanks for sharing!

[Joanna {sweet finds}]

Cute idea. Thanks for sharing. I love the wrapping paper too. I'll definitely have to check back to see the others. :) xoxo, Joanna

[kim]

Your garland is so clever and very pretty, Barbara.
Also, I adore the wrapping paper. They just don't make it like that anymore. I can see already that your blog is going to be THE place to be until Christmas. Such fun things you have been showing and I look forward to more wrapping paper.

[Account Deleted]

Your garland is lovely! I hope all is well with you!

[Lena]

Hi Kim, I really like your garland. Vintage Christmas things have so much charm, I think. The paper is very sweet too.

I know that cake decorating stores have similar bells in various sizes. I think they are usually used to decorate wedding cakes, but they'd be perfect for making a garland. You'd have to glitter them, but that shouldn't take too long.

I was wondering, is it ok for us to copy and save the wrapping paper images?

Thanks for sharing all your wonderful treasures and ideas! I appreciate it!

[Jenny]

Wow! Love the stars on the paper!! Too pretty!

[Account Deleted]

Fabulous! I luv vintage xmas paper. Who wouldn't? xo, suzy

[Beth Leintz]

You are a patient woman to thread that garland but it looks great.

I'm hoping you're going to keep scanning that paper so I can download it- I love vintage wrapping, too- but haven't found any in awhile :(

[Elizabeth]

Love both your garland and the vintage paper!

[Nanette]

This looks like something in my home when I grew up. Those blue beads and the white bells. It strikes a fun memory inside me. I need to know where you live . . .or how to get things like you do! This is really killing me. My childhood ornaments were left behind when my parents moved (when I was 17) and this makes me ache for them.