43 Festive DIY Christmas Garland Ideas

By BH&G Holiday Editors
Updated September 09, 2020
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Credit: Jay Wilde
Decorate your home for the holidays with these festive Christmas garland and swag ideas. We have classic garlands for banisters, mantels, windows, and doorways. Plus, we give you a little modern twist—adding them to dining chairs and chandeliers to transform your everyday spaces into a winter wonderland.
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Silver Evergreen Garland

Credit: Adam Albright

Loop and drape faux garland ($38, Overstock) around the banister and let it puddle on the ground for dramatic effect. To add more punch to a basic style, add sprigs of silvery juniper berries, silver ornament, and a rope of pretty felted balls.

Editor's Tip: Always buy more garland than you think you will need. You'll want to allow excess for draping. We've found that one-and-a-half times the length of your space is enough.

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Lush Door Garland

Credit: Jay Wilde

Create a farmhouse Christmas porch with a faux magnolia wreath, star decorations, and a classic garland. When assembling your holiday greenery, boost depth and contrast by mixing a wide range of green hues and a variety of textures. To add visual weight and texture to a simple faux evergreen garland, embellish it with large pinecones. Simply attach them on to the garland using florists wire.

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Big Bow Christmas Garland

Credit: Michael Partenio

Graceful Christmas bows with long tails dramatically enhance a simple evergreen garland. Cut extra-long strips of wide ribbon or fabric, tie into bows, and attach to the stair railing about 3 feet apart. For a pop of Christmas festivity, try red ribbon.

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Continuous Garland

Credit: Jay Wilde

Why limit your fabulous Christmas garland to just one window? Keep the Christmas garland train moving across an expanse of wall with one continuous length of garland. On a wall with multiple windows, hang garland at the corners of both windows (letting the garland trail toward the floor) and swag it in the middle.

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Flocked Garland

Credit: Kim Cornelison

Go lush with a layer of flocked garland along your fireplace mantel. Intertwine this Christmas garland with eucalyptus, dusty miller, or bay leaf garland ($52, Wayfair). The icy greens look positively stunning against the silver-brushed Christmas evergreen. Use flocking spray to bring the beauty of freshly fallen snow indoors without any of the winter wonderland mess.

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Geometric Wood Bead Garland

Credit: Marty Baldwin

This Christmas tree garland features wooden beads and geometric brass pieces to create a bright garland for every home. Weave this DIY holiday garland through Christmas tree branches or drape it over the fireplace for a stunning holiday mantel for a playful touch of holiday cheer. Customizing this garland idea by varying the pattern of beads and brass triangles makes it almost as fun to create as it is to hang.

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Crepe and Copper Garland

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Create a modern copper-accent Christmas tree garland with timeless white crepe paper. This subtle DIY Christmas garland comes together with white leaf crepe paper and light metallic touches in our easy Christmas garland tutorial. Just wind copper wire together to create orbs for a pop of texture. Make the garland match your decor with a custom color scheme and a variety of metallic wire.

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Corner Swag

Credit: Adam Albright

Make a corner swag by wiring pine boughs, magnolia leaves, and grapevine to 1- x 2-inch boards attached to each other at a right angle. Hang using an exterior removable hook.

Editor's Tip: Faux fir greenery is ideal for a doorway application because needles won't fall off as the door opens and closes.

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Christmas Centerpiece Greenery Garland

Credit: Adam Albright

Turn simple greenery into a gorgeous winter tabletop garland with our easy step-by-step instructions. Your guests won't believe you made this luxurious centerpiece yourself. Drape this Christmas garland down the center of the table to create a stunning tablescape, or add it to a mantel to add a rustic charm to your living space. For an added pop of color, tuck in a few fresh floral blooms to tie the centerpiece to the rest of your decor.

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Kitchen Nook Garland

Credit: Annie Schlechter

Turn a cozy nook in your home into a festively decorated and cozy Christmas hangout spot. Use the built-in ledge provided by windows, walls, or trim to easily hang green Christmas garland and ornaments. Tie the festive window display together with a traditional holiday wreath and classic red bow.

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Metallic Christmas Garland

Credit: William Geddes

Add a little sparkle to a basic magnolia garland. Metallic silver and gold spray paint transforms a once-green magnolia swag into a sparkling holiday showpiece. Small votives and vases pick up the pretty metallic tones, which in turn accent this mosaic fireplace front. You know what they say: everyone needs silver and gold.

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Pillar Garland

Credit: Frances Janisch

If you're lucky enough to have pillars (or painted branches like these) in your home’s interior, accent them during the season by wrapping them in berry-filled Christmas garlands. An elegant evergreen garland with berry and pinecone accents ($34, Wayfair) adds a rustic theme to this vignette.

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Petite Christmas Garland

Credit: Scott Little

Who says Christmas garlands need to be lush affairs? Maintain a minimal look with a short swag of draping Christmas greenery and a few lengths of pom-pom garland in a simple neutral draped across a mirror or window.

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Yarn Tassel Garland

Credit: Werner Straube

Craft a simple Christmas garland with a mix of yarns. Make handmade tassels from chunky twisted yarns or paper in colors that match your Christmas scheme, and attach them to a length of yarn. Drape your DIY Christmas garland along a wall, banister, or even your tree.

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Ribbon and Evergreen Garland

Credit: Kim Cornelison

Weave wide ribbon into an evergreen garland for a pretty jolt of color. Mix in different ribbons, using one color for a length and then switching to another color to accent. For a classic Christmas garland, try using red with silver to accent. Add reindeer bells ($53, Vermont Country Store) so Santa can hear everyone run down the stairs on Christmas morning.

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Perfectly Outlined Garland

Credit: Scott Little

Accent the curved shape of a mirror with garland. Try boxwood Christmas garland as an alternative to evergreen varieties. If you decorate your home with red, look for a garland with berries to pick up the red accents elsewhere in your decor.

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Stairway Stocking Garland

Credit: David Tsay

No chimney for hanging stockings with care? No problem! Hang stockings along the banister, and complete the holiday display with a mixture of live green garland and metallic accents. There's nothing more exciting than seeing an overflowing stocking as you come down the stairs Christmas morning.

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Christmas Card Garland Idea

Credit: David Land

Turn your Christmas greeting cards into a cheery garland for your mantel. Swag yarn or ribbon between the corners of your fireplace and attach Christmas cards with decorative clothespins (available at craft and paper stores). For an extra special touch, cut out ornament shapes and have your kids decorate them and add them into the mix.

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Fresh Flower Garland

Credit: Jacob Fox

Bold blooms pop in this fragrant garland centerpiece. Perfect for Christmas, this living flower garland is the perfect way to add color to your holiday table.

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Doubled-Up Christmas Garlands

Credit: Jay Wilde

Dress up a plain evergreen garland with cozy knit accessories like knit stockings and a yarn garland. Make your own by braiding thick strands of bulky yarn. Finish the look with simple metallic ball ornaments and dried orange slices.

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Felt Flower Garland

Credit: Carson Downing

Handmade felt flowers star in this rustic farmhouse garland. To create, simple glue finished flowers to jute or twine. Add faux leaves to finish the look.

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Silvery Star Christmas Garland

Credit: Alexandra Grablewski
Get the free pattern

Add some star power to your Christmas decor. Cut star shapes from sweater fabric using our free pattern. Iron-on heavy fusible interfacing to the backs of stars and trim. Hot-glue a large silver sequin to the center of each star. Glue backs of stars to yarn and hang.

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Christmas Advent Calendar Garland

Credit: Kritsada Panichgul

Deck out your holiday mantel with a swag of sweet surprises. Fill 24 small envelopes with tiny toys or pieces of candy and seal with numbered stickers. Hang the envelopes across the mantel with miniature clothespins. Kids will love waking up to a new treat during the countdown to Christmas!

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Sparkling Christmas Garland

Credit: Jay Wilde

Instead of letting your tree be the only light display, illuminate your mantel with a simple lighted Christmas garland. You can DIY this gorgeous display and wrap lights around a classic evergreen garland, or you can skip a step and just buy pre-lit Christmas garland (and we’re all for simplifying the holiday season). Choose LED lights to avoid heating up your garland.

Editor's Tip: Garlands aren't just for your holiday mantel! Try displaying your Christmas garland in an unexpected location like your headboard.

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DIY Holly Christmas Garland

Credit: Jason Donnelly

Adorn chair backs with cute and creative holly Christmas garland. Cut out holly leaves from shades of green felt. Punch two holes in leaf tops. String with matching paper straws (cut to six inches) to make a chair back swag. For berries, hot-glue wool felt balls to leaves. Pin or tie garlands to back of chairs.

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Christmas Ornament Garland

Credit: Ann Wilde

Add a jewel box appearance with a shiny ornament Christmas garland on your fireplace. Red ornaments pop against a classic white fireplace, picking up on red accents elsewhere in the Christmas display, like on the lit-up tree.

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Winter Blooms and Magnolia Christmas Garland

Credit: David Tsay

A magnolia leaf Christmas garland provides a large, lush base for mantel decor. Metallic accents, paperwhite blooms, and beautiful candlelight combine to create a Christmas look that is both simple and commanding.

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Colorful Doves Christmas Garland

Credit: Werner Straube

White faux doves are a beautiful way to spread a peaceful message during the holidays. Create a colorful backdrop for the white doves and use green garland with a jewel-tone ornament scheme and beautiful ribbon bows.

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Vintage Christmas Fabric Swag

Credit: Adam Albright

Utilizing greenery at Christmas-time will always be classic, but trying out other materials can be refreshing, too. Here, French-inspired fabric in Christmas-red drapes beautifully over a basket bursting with fresh green cuttings that could be scooped right from the tree alongside some berries.

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