DIY Map Christmas Tree Garland

I mentioned a few days ago that my Christmas tree theme for the year is

TRAVEL.  

I wanted to have a garland that went with my theme but couldn't find anything in the stores that I loved so I made my own.  

Supplies:

an old atlas or maps you can cut apart

large punches - scalloped square, oval and circle

twine

glue stick

bowls to keep punches separate

Tear pages out of the atlas, fold over and start punching.

Punch lots and lots of each shape.

I didn't count mine but you'll need a lot of them.

 Lay out the various shapes and decide on your pattern.

 Start gluing them onto the twine.

Put glue on the shape, lay the twine on top and then put the same shape on top.

 Be sure to match up the scallops.

 I used my hole punch to help hold things in place

and then let the finished garland hang off the table.

 When I got into a good routine, I started gluing two at a time.

I also laid the shapes out in the order of the pattern.

You can easily do this while watching TV 

just check in to make sure you are maintaining your original pattern.

 I worked on this while my baby was playing.  So lots of toys were a necessity.

I feel like Olive was saying,

Keep up the good work, Mom!!!

I eye balled the garland length for my tree and did a measurement about half way through to see if my strand would be long enough.  I also let it sit and dry for a few hours and then put it on the tree.  BEWARE: the scalloped edges & twine = a tangled mess so move carefully.  I made the mistake of letting it bunch up as I was making it and then had to untangle a garland ball.

 

 A 2nd warning: Your curious cat will go nutso for the finished garland.  My Topher was dying to chomp it and I had to keep shooing him away.

 Since the garland does tangle easily, 

you'll probably want someone to help you hang it on the tree.

 You could easily do this with printed scrapbook paper, solid colored paper, newspaper, etc.

Let me know if you give this affordable garland option a try!!