Australian Native Christmas Garlands

In preparation for the festive season I recently crafted some Chrissy buntings from found flora and pom poms (while strictly speaking, one garland isn't native). I then took them over to my mate Anna's place where she kindly photographed them on her beautiful mantlepiece amidst her pretty wares.

The 'how to':

1. Choose roughly 2-3m of thread, this could be anything! I chose some decorative trims from my local craft shop.

2. Decide on your colour and shape combination. (I've kept mine fairly simple and used repetition with these ones).

3. Collect leaves, cones & flowers (I focused on the Gum and Banksia variety) and paint them in your chosen colour combination or leave natural.

4. Or you can make your own leaves by tracing around a leaf for a stencil as I have here on some vintage fabric.

5. Have a stash of pom poms at the ready!

6. Map your garland out on a surface to work on. To create a 'Christmassy' look I made 'Australian mistletoe' by combining two Gum / Banskia leaves attached together with gum nuts / pom poms.

 
7. Depending on what you are attaching and how heavy it is either glue or hand sew decorations on to thread or attach by tying wool around heavier items. Leave to dry overnight if using craft glue.

Ta da! Your beautiful Christmas garland is ready to hang up! Hopefully on a mantlepiece as beautiful as Anna's! Or around your Christmas tree, window frame....