DIY Burlap Garland

I don’t share many craft posts because while I love making crafts with my kids, I typically stick to making lotion bars or homemade soap.

In the winter, when it gets too cold for treehouse play or going for walks, I try to find fun projects for us to do together instead and this was one of our most recent fun projects. We also make a lot of homemade foods and treats this time of year like homemade marshmallows as gifts for friends or grain free biscotti.

Burlap Garland

This year, I decided to go with a natural, crafty and homemade look for our tree. This has been easy to accomplish because the children always want to make their own ornaments anyway and they have loved putting their work on display.

I’d typically just put a 3 inch ribbon as a garland around the tree, but this didn’t fit with my earth tones and natural look this year so I was looking for another option that wouldn’t be too expensive either.

Since I’m basically obsessed with burlap lately, I decided to create a burlap garland.

Burlap Garland Supplies

For this DIY project, I used:

• 100 yards of 4 inch burlap ribbon
• Needle with large eye for threading through burlap
• Hemp cord or other strong string for weaving through the burlap
• Patience

Burlap Garland Instructions

1. The burlap ribbon comes on a roll. I places this on the floor and removed the top cardboard so I’d be able to easily pull out new ribbon. I also trimmed any loose edges (common with burlap).
2. Then, fold the end of the ribbon over several times to create a thicker piece.
3. Thread the needle with the hemp cord or other strong string and sew through the folded-over piece. Pull the string almost all the way through and knot to hold the end.
4. Then, weave back and forth in a loose zig-zag pattern through the entire burlap ribbon. I found that holding the needle in one hand and using the other to fold over pieces of the burlap and push onto the needle was faster. If you prefer a smoother, ruffled look, you can sew big 1-2 inch stitches through the middle of the burlap.
5. As you do this, stop every few feet of the burlap to bunch the part you’ve just sewn and pull the thread through.
6. Repeat as much as needed to make the desired length garland.
7. Use on a tree, mantle or any other way you can think of!

If you have a serger or sewing machine and want to keep the ends from fraying, serge the edges of the burlap ribbon before doing this or run a zig zag stitch to finish the edges.

Ever made anything with burlap? How did it go?