These patriotic garlands are super cute and so cheap! I had fun making these last week for my friend and me to decorate our homes for Independence Day. Instructions are in the video below, from my favorite craftsy blogger, Dana Willard.

I found it works best to give a gentle turn backwards on the top spool of thread every second or so, and then let go, to keep the right tension, which creates the ruffles. If I constantly held the spool the thread would snap. Like she says in the video, you will have to play with it to figure out what works for you on your sewing machine.

I also found that that the garland/streamers look prettier if you separate the layers of crepe paper, reaching deep inside all of the tucks, to carefully fluff up and out the white middle layer. For some odd reason this activity gave me immense pleasure, as if I were separating delicate butterfly wings without tearing them, flexing them out so they could fly. See the “before” and “after” pics below. See how much more festive the garland looks by separating the layers?

I hope you enjoy making these! I plan on doing some for every season of the year. I love putting them over doorways and my piano. If I had a bannister, I would put one on that! Last year, I made some with the colors Dana uses in the video. Surprisingly, the colors were a perfectly bright combination for November, instead of the traditional Thanksgiving colors of brown, yellow, and orange. I’m having fun looking forward to all the different color combinations that I think up for each season.