Tutorial Tuesdays- Upcycled garland necklace

Are Christmas posts boring? I really hope not, but for some reason I have this sinking feeling that I am becoming repetitive and boring. If I am, let me know, and I will try to make myself (and my posts) a little more exciting!

I'm really excited about today's Tutorial Tuesday. I've been wanting to make this necklace FOREVER now and Christmas is what finally pushed me to do it. You've probably seen those beautiful beaded necklace knotted with ribbon right? Well, here's my take on it.

I kind of sort of love it. It's Christmasy enough to festive but muted enough to not be over the top. And the best part is, I gave something old new life! I found this fantastic vintage garland over the summer and I fell in love with it! Big wooden beads in festive colors? Bliss. Would you like to make one too?

You will need:

• Fantastic vintage garland (or, if you don't have any of that, large wooden beads with big holes will work just as well.)
• A yard or so of ribbon
• Scissors
• Lighter/match/candle

Cut a yard or so of ribbon from your spool. I didn't even measure here, I just wrapped it around my head and added a lot of extra room on each side to make sure it would long enough to tie in a bow after knotting. Just remember, you can always cut away some ribbon if it ends up being too long. Then, cut your ribbon into thin points and heat seal the edges with your heat source. This makes the ribbon more needlelike and makes threading wayyy easier.

Make sure you get beads with big enough holes in them! Otherwise you'll want to pull your hair out and although this necklace is pretty I don't think it's pretty enough to distract from a bald spot.

Find the middle of your ribbon and mark it, then string your first bead on. Slide it down the ribbon until it's centered.

Tie a knot on both sides of the bead. It will take a little bit of tweaking, pulling, and possible retying but after a few tries you'll get the hang of it.

After you've got the middle bead centered, keep stringing beads on either side (so string a bead on the right side of your first bead, then knot it. Then string a bead on the left side and knot it. Then back to the right, then left, you get the idea!) This is what it looked like almost done.

And this is what it looks like done! I love it, I made my short and a little more choker like but the sky's the limit here! You can make it super long and more "statementy," all one color, or even use green ribbon to make it a little more festive! Use your imagination (and send me a picture! I'd love to see!)

What are kitty paws doing in my pictures? Well, this little miss loves to get into my stuff when I'm making jewelry. Anything with strings and beads and she is so there!

But really, how can you resist a cute and playful kitty? I certainly can't. Happy crafting! Make sure you click my "parties" tab to see all the places I'm linking up. You're sure to find some great new inspiring projects!
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Have you submitted your link to my Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas linky party yet? YOU HAVEN'T!?!? Well you should, I'm sure there are a ton of us out there that are behind on holiday presents and need YOUR creative genius to help us out! So go on and link up! I'll be featuring a few more of my favorites on Sunday!

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