Christmas Garland and Swag Decorating Ideas

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.

Go lush with a layer of flocked garland along your fireplace mantel. Intertwine this Christmas garland with eucalyptus, dusty miller, or bay leaf garland. 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.

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 Christmas garland idea by varying the pattern of beads and brass triangles makes it almost as fun to create as it is to hang. 

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 two windows, hang garland at the corners of both windows (letting the garland trail toward the floor) and swag it in the middle. Top each place where the garland hangs with an oversized bow. 

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 Christmas spirit with a custom color scheme and a variety of metallic wire. 

Succulents might not be a traditional Christmas garland material, but they have increasingly earned a spotlight. This swag was created by overlapping Portulacaria afra branch cuttings and lightly wrapping them together with short pieces of wire. Continue adding cuttings and wrapping the branches until you achieve your desired length; we doubled the effort for a two-strand swag effect. For the center, lightly wire an assortment of succulents to your swag. Wire them on one at a time, paying attention to the total weight of the garland. To hang on your mantel, use more wire and removable hooks. To keep it lasting longer, lightly mist the garland every few days.
(image credit: Cassidy Tuttle)

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.

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. 

Add a little sparkle to a basic magnolia garland. Metallic silver and gold spray paint transform 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.

If you're lucky enough to have pillars in your home’s interior, accent them during the Christmas season by wrapping them in berry-filled Christmas garlands. An elegant evergreen garland with berry and pinecone accents adds a rustic theme to this vignette. If you don’t have pillars in your home, wrap Christmas garlands around your stair spindles or along the porch.

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

Craft a simple Christmas garland with a mix of yarns. Make tassels from chunky twisted yarns 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.

One of the very best parts about the Christmas season is the collection of packages that gather beneath the tree. Carry the package theme all the way through the house with this whimsical shipping tag garland. Use stencils and red paint to add letters to plain paper tags. Set the tags aside to dry before stringing them onto twine to finish.

(image credit: Design Improvised)

Weave wide ribbon into 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 so Santa can hear everyone run down the stairs on Christmas morning.

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.

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. 

Frame a vignette in pretty garland for an extra special touch. For a rustic Christmas look, wrap burlap ribbon around the garland, and hang gold glitter snowflake ornaments from the garland boughs. Add evergreen to your table surface to complete the Christmas display.

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 Christmas ornament shapes and have your kids decorate them and add them into the mix. 

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

Looking for Christmas garland ideas for a pair of windows or mirrors? Try this: Dress them both in identical Christmas garlands. If you have a strong color scheme and prefer to keep things simple and elegant, wrap the garland in 2-3 kinds of ribbon that coordinate with the room's palette. 

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. 

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.

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!

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).

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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 Christmas tree alongside some berries. 

Add a splash of color that won't overpower mantel decor. String felt balls in colors of your choice and swag across a holiday mantel or shelf for a subtle touch of fun. These easy decorations are also simple for the office Christmas party.

Set up eye-catching decor in your entryway or living room by draping a mirror with a battery-powered lighted Christmas garland. The twinkling lights will reflect off the mirror and other metallic accents to create a luminous effect.

Layer wild, unmanicured greenery with garlands made of natural fibers. This unexpected combination of textures mixes to create an interesting mantel display. Lay branches cut to various lengths along your mantel, then string cream felt balls to create the first garland. For the second garland, use thick cream yarn and make a braid long enough to span your mantel. Make pom-poms to hang, equally spaced, from the braid.

Beautiful red cranberries have long been a symbol of Christmas. Create a sugared cranberry garland by tossing berries in a bag filled with crafts glue. Then add a handful of white sanding sugar and toss to coat. Lay out the berries on wax paper to dry, and finish by threading the berries onto bakers twine using a tapestry needle. (image credit: Leah Bergman)

These cheeky Christmas lights offer pops of color without running up an electric bill. Get the look by screwing pilot holes in the ends of wooden light bulbs (available at a crafts store). Twist in eye hooks. Dilute watercolor paint in a bowl and submerge the wooden bulbs halfway into the solution. Stand in florist's foam to dry. String the bulbs onto twine and wrap around your tree.

(image credit: Stephanie Haass)

So cheap, so easy! This Christmas garland goes graphic with just minutes of prep. Simply cut triangle shapes from gold metallic cardstock and tape to a string. This year’s Christmas decor couldn't be easier.

(image credit: Molly Madfis)

A Christmas garland that's layered offers incredible allure for your holiday decorating. Here, magnolia serves as the base, cedar and lavender thistle are woven in for depth and texture, and lights add sparkle.

Editor's Tip: Take a walk around your yard or a nearby park and gather the last remnants of the growing season -- interesting leaves and dried flowers, for example -- to embellish your Christmas garland.

Garlands can be assembled in a variety of ways. They may be single long pieces of Christmas evergreens, or they may be small pieces of various types that are wired or glued together. This daintier version is the latter; tiny groupings of pinecones -- glued on -- add complementary color and texture. 

Evergreens generally complement any style of holiday decorating, and a Christmas garland is a great chance to accent your decor. Here, multiple needle types are intertwined along a long, curving banister. Ribbon-hung pinecones, dusted with a bit of white paint, offer a pretty end point.

Garlands can be used as a unifying element for multiple colors in a Christmas color scheme. Here, unadorned greens weave around the glass jars on the family mantel, which can display colorful holiday candy or leftover ornaments. 

Garlands used to be pretty basic holiday decor -- evergreens draped on mantels and stairwells. Now you can go bigger, like this room: Pretty evergreens add texture on top of the mantel, but a ribbon garland draped through miniature wreaths accents the large corner bank of windows for a festive pop of color.

Here's a great idea to capture and display yearly holiday memories: a photo garland. Take snapshots during the season and print out your faves. Mount them using photo corners onto pieces of cardstock; add scrapbooking label holders as IDs. Hang the photos from plain or colored twine using clothespins; use the garland to adorn a doorway, window, or mantel. The following year, tuck those photos into an album and display new pictures. 

Make your own gorgeous Christmas garland with vellum and pearlescent cardstock. Our lead pattern and scoring template helps lead you through the cutting and folding of each leaf. A few red cardstock circles serve as berries to offset the all-white look for this simple Christmas garland.

A Christmas garland doesn't have to drape in order to be a garland. Here, a variety of greens come together in mounds and clumps, supplying movement to the mantel. Antique and vintage mercury-glass balls and new mercury-glass Christmas trees add sparkling contrast. 

Customize a ready-made pinecone garland with ornaments that coordinate with the color of your front door to welcome your guests in traditional style. Position the Christmas garland outside the door frame, and secure it at the top and along the sides with easy-to-remove self-adhesive hooks or brick clips.

A parade of felt flowers is a sweet alternative to the usual ribbon and pinecones adorning evergreen boughs. To make the flowers, cut six 2-inch and six 1-1/2-inch felt circles. Layer a small and large circle, aligning the bottoms. Pinch the set of circles together at the bottom, run a threaded needle through the four layers, and knot the ends. Repeat for remaining five petals. Stitch the six petals together at the pinched ends to form a flower. Using a needle and thread, string the finished flowers together on the back side through the pinched centers to form a garland.

Editor's Tip: If you don't have enough felt flowers to line your banister, use them to decorate small spaces, such as bookshelves, windows, and mirrors.

Garlands go beyond classic Christmas greenery. Add modern flair to your stair railing with a snowflake garland handcrafted from wooden crafts sticks. Use two or three pieces of double-stick mounting tape per snowflake to hold the lacy patterns flat against the railings and create a homemade winter wonderland.

You'll forget you're entering the kitchen when you walk through this wintry evergreen arch. The garland around the doorway is as decorative as it is useful — just try using it to holds Christmas cards with simple clips.

Editor's Tip: Secure the Christmas cards to the garland by tucking them neatly into the boughs or hanging them on the branches with small pieces of twine.