Well now, ever since finding these miniature doilies at JoAnn's this past November, I have been almost obsessed with them.
{Well, okay, maybe not obsessed. But definitely loving them!}
These sweet little doilies caught my eye because they reminded me of the little crocheted snowflakes my grandma would make and then starch. She gave some as a gift to us, and my mom used little clear suction cups to hang them here and there on the front window...I remember thinking as a child that there was nothing more beautiful!
{I also wanted to show you this: these miniature doilies come in both ivory and white.}
When I bought these doilies, I wasn't exactly sure what I would use them for, but found one use a couple of days later...
{When folded, they made little wings for the paper birds I was working on.}
But as I was working on the paper birds, I began to think of how cute these would be as a garland...
To make this, I decided about how many doilies I wanted to use/ how long I wanted the garland to be, and added these little metal adhesive embellishments:
I first imagined using twine for this project, but it didn't look quite right. The snowflakes needed something fuller to weave through them, and this sheer ribbon was just right. A little slippery to work with, but so worth it!
I wasn't sure how long I would need the ribbon to be, so I didn't cut it at first. I just looped the ribbon through the little doilies as I added them, making small spaces between each one.
When I'd added all of the doilies and had the right spaces between them, and I liked the amount of ribbon I had to work with on each side of the garland, I knew I could safely cut the ribbon off from the roll.
Lay your garland out and, in the middle of each space between each of the doilies, tie a small piece of matching ribbon around the ribbon connecting the doilies...
Don't make a tight knot until you have it ready to hang up, though, just in case you will need to adjust things...
{ahem...I did this, and it was really difficult to undo it...}
And once you have a tie between each doily, your garland is ready to hang up!
In the kitchen, I used mini clothespins sprayed white to hang each side up. I just hung it beneath my curtain, about half way up the window.
{I didn't want to remove the kitchen valance, as it is the only curtain we have in any of our main rooms at present, due to all of our renovating...}
In the living room, I hung it a little differently:
I tied it up each side and in the middle, and added bows to each part I tied up for a little extra oomph...
Now I was wavering on starching them, but decided not to. Most of the ones I was using were thicker and firmer, and I liked them better unstarched. {Personal preference.} However, I was at the bottom of the barrel by the time I was finishing the garland for the living room, and had to use a couple of more flimsy ones, and can see why you would want to starch them if this was the way they all were! And it isn't hard at all to use the starch, if you should decide to do this. Just a few mists of the spray starch, and you let it dry! :)
I admit I thought of these as my Christmas garlands, but realized they can really be used all winter long...
At least I hope they can, because I plan on doing it! ;)
So...what do you think?
Well, I hope you have a wonderful night! :)
Blessings~
Jenni
{I am linking this to Freckled Laundry and Under the Table and Dreaming.}
