Making Christmas pom-pom garlands
Heather’s take on simple holiday decor
Let’s get this out of the way up front: I dislike Christmas decor.
I mean, it’s fine in other people’s houses. I know plenty of people who love decorating for the holidays and their homes look wonderful.
But in my house? Ugh. It always feels cluttered and over-full during the month of December, once we’ve pulled out the lights and stockings and Santas and tinsel garlands ... and the giant wooden gingerbread man that seemed like a fun idea at the time. Then there’s the (special but admittedly gaudy) tree itself. Basically, I’m taking deep breaths and looking forward to the lovely season of decluttering and organization — a.k.a. January. That’s my Christmas. Of course, my children adore Christmas and all of the decorations that come with it. So I thought I’d make an effort to replace a few pieces with ones I liked better — specially, something simpler.
I decorated bedrooms for two tweens a few months ago and fell in love with the sweet pompom garlands I’d made for their rooms. So I picked up packages of red and white pom-poms and
Heather started by buying inexpensive packages of red and white pom-poms.
made a few to swag over the windows in our living room. These are so easy to make! You thread a needle and just plunge it through the middle of each pom-pom to add it to your thread. If you think it might get messed with — and you’re particular about having the poms evenly spaced — you can stitch in and out a few times to prevent it from moving on the thread. I didn’t bother with that this time, and that leaves you free to adjust
the spacing once you hang it. Once I felt I had strung enough poms, I tied a loop in one end of my thread and hung it from a curtain clip. Then I arranged the garland so it swagged nicely in the window, and tied off the other end at a good length. Because it’s hanging off the curtain clips — and the garland is light as a feather — I can easily reposition it when we go to close the curtains, which isn’t often.
I also toyed with adding a little Christmas touch to our sectional sofa with a cozy knit throw and a (fake) holiday pillow. I bought a metre of red and green plaid fleece — so snuggly — and wrapped it around a large throw pillow, pinning it at the back to keep it in place. We don’t have the storage space (or the desire) to store holiday-specific pillows throughout the year, so I like I can unpin the fabric after Christmas and either save it for next year or use it for another project. Ooh, maybe a sweater for the dog!
Happy Christmas decorating! Or, if you’re like me, here’s to spending the next month remembering that you’ll have your house back to normal soon.