I’m having a Christmas party this December, so I want to make something fun to give away as favors to our guests at the end of the night. Lucky for me, an idea struck just as I was preparing this year’s Christmas decorations: paper garland favor boxes!
I make paper garlands all the time, but never thought to give them away as gifts until now. They’re so simple to make, taking very little time and money so long as you have a sewing machine. If you don’t have paper circle punches at home, you can find them for around $10 at your local craft store. They come in handy for all sorts of crafts. I have two circular punches that I regularly use (one 2″ circle punch and one 1″ scallop punch), but using just one circle punch would still give you a beautiful garland to hang on your walls, your Christmas tree, or to drape over your bookshelves for some extra Christmas cheer.
What You’ll Need:
• Festive colored cardstock (I used red, cream and green)
• Circle Punch(es) – they come in various shapes and sizes
• A sewing machine
• Complementary colored thread (I used cream)
• Scissors
• Favor Boxes
• Personalized Labels
Use your circle punch on your cardstock to punch out as many circles as you can per sheet. Organize your circles into piles by color and size, and then stack them in the manner you’d like them to hang. I like to alternate between colors (red, cream, red, etc.), and size (small circle, large circle, small circle). You can stack as many or as few as you’d like, depending on how long you want your garlands to be.
Prepare your sewing machine by filling your bobbin with your selected color. After you have threaded your machine, you can begin feeding the paper circles from your stacks through, one-by-one, making sure that you keep them uniform in distance from one another. It’s best to start slow until you’re comfortable with this process. Continue feeding until your entire stack of circles has gone though. Snip your thread about 6 inches from your last paper circle, and admire your new handmade paper garland!
Fold up your paper garlands accordion-style, and place them in small favor boxes. I used the 2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ x 1-1/8″ favor boxes for my garlands, and they fit perfectly. Stick a small 1″ circle label (I used this one) on the paper circle at the end of your garland, and close the box. To label my boxes, I chose a red colored square labels in the style Lace.
Helpful Links
- Personalized Labels • I chose the “Lace” style in Deep Red.
- Favor Boxes • I used the 2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ x 1-1/8″ size.
More holiday gift ideas from Lindsay Jewell…
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Lindsay is a writer/blogger from Oregon who loves crafting, cooking, gardening, and simple living. You can find her writing about all of this and more on her blog A Wooden Nest.
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