47 Gorgeous Christmas Garland Decorating Ideas for Dressing Your Home Up
Envelop your house in holiday cheer with Christmas garland for indoors and out
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We’re going to let you in on a secret: Christmas garland is the most important holiday decoration in your Christmas decor tool kit. (Not counting your beautifully decorated Christmas tree, of course.) We love our DIY wreaths and Christmas door decorations just as much as we love the strewn-up Christmas lights around our front porch but nothing adds that extra touch of Christmas magic like garland. Stands of fresh—or faux—greenery is one of the easiest ways to holiday cheer to your home during the month of December, and no one will bat an eye when you keep them up into January because garland is just that beautiful! The best part is that they’re often less expensive than wreaths, especially if you make your own.
When it comes to Christmas garland, there are so many different ways to style them. You can go totally classic with a strand of garland draped across your holiday mantel. Or you can go all out and deck the halls, porch, windows, and door with garland to make an amazing first impression for all your Christmas party guests. If you want to take an out-of-the-box approach and skip the greenery altogether, we’ve also gathered some fun and kid-approved DIYs like candy cane garland. However you decorate this year, remember to have fun with these ideas and make them your own.
Candy Cane Garland
This project is one you can do with your kids! Tie together candy canes in heart or staff shapes and string on to colored yarn or rope for a truly edible garland.
Silver and Gold Ornaments
Spruce up a staircase with a garland adorned with metallic baubles and linen ribbon.
Cookie Cutter Garland
Use short loops of baker's twine to hang seasonal cookie cutters on a single long ribbon. Display on a mantel, shelf, cupboard, or even a headboard.
A Layered Garland
Want to make a garland yourself? Bundle 12-inch lengths of fresh cedar and grapevine twigs and use green metal wires to hold them together. Repeat until you have enough to go around the doorframe. Affix bundles together in an overlapping pattern with green wire. Hang over the doorway using nails or hooks, and add berries or pinecones.
Wrap It Up!
Don't just swag, wrap your fresh garlands around exterior columns for a very merry welcome.
Citrus Garland
To string your own strand, all you need are navel and blood oranges, parchment paper, two cookie sheets, jute or natural twine, a skewer or nail, and decorative hooks. Read on for the full instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 250°F.
2. Cut oranges crosswise into 1/4-inch slices (four oranges make a six-foot garland).
3. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Pat orange slices dry with paper towels, and place them on cookie sheets in a single layer.
4. Bake for approximately 3 hours or until dry. (To ensure the slices dry flat, turn them over at the midway mark.) Remove from oven.
5. Using a skewer or nail, poke two holes into the top of each orange slice.
6. Thread twine through each hole, evenly spacing the oranges on the garland. Tie off each end with a loop, and hang from hooks.
White and Green
If your living room decor is mostly white, opt for an oversized garland with neutral accents to create a striking focal point on your mantel.
Window Border
A fresh pine-and-cedar garland pops in this all-white kitchen.
Garland and Stocking Stairway
If you don't have a fireplace, take a tip from these Michigan homeowners. They attached their stockings to their greenery for a fun and festive look.
DIY Apple Garland
This craft uses real fruit! The Bridger family made this garland to pay tribute to the adjacent orchard. To re-create it, use a skewer to puncture a hole through an apple, close to the center, then string wire through the fruit and secure wire to the garland. The Bridgers used Fraser fir for their creation.
Bathroom Mirror Garland
In our opinion, every room could use a bit of Christmas cheer! Christine and Gabe Bridger made sure every room was filled with holiday decor—even their bathroom. Here, they used a simple string of greenery to line the long mirror.
Felt Leaf Garland
Too add some cheer to her children's rooms, Tennessee homeowner Holly Williams wrapped this fun felt garland around their bunk beds.
DIY Mitten Garland
Have old mittens your family no longer wears? Get inspired by Michigan homeowner Christine Bridger, who sources vintage ones year-round online and at flea markets, then uses a large needle to pull yarn through the tops of the hand-warmers. (Secure with knots if needed.)
Headboard-Shaped Garland
Holly Williams also added some greenery to her other bedrooms. Come Christmas Eve, her girls will don their matching pajamas and bunk together on built-ins made festive with holly garland.
Mantel Christmas Garland
At the Junk Gypsies' inn in Round Top, Texas, fresh garland is layered with a strand of stars for a glitzy effect.
Advent Calendar Garland
Cape Cod homeowner and blogger Nora Murphy used homegrown garland and teeny galvanized buckets to creative this festive display above her stove, which doubles as an air freshener and an advent calendar.
Cookie Tree Candy Garland Idea
For an extra-sweet Christmas garland, adorn a stack of vintage cookie tins with a candy sash.
Christmas Garland With Lights
Hang up your favorite greens, twinkling lights, and pinecones to create a lush and sparkling arrangement, which you can then add to hutches, cabinetry, entertainment centers, mantels, and more.
Staircase Christmas Garland
A vintage state pennant adds color and and a personal touch to this entryway garland.
Christmas Garland With Ornaments
1950s vintage baubles hang from an oversized garland in the entryway of this Tennessee home.
Anna Logan is the Senior Homes & Style Editor at Country Living, where she covers design and decorating trends, home features, and gift guides. She also produces home features and styles content for the print magazine. When she isn’t working, can often be found digging around antique shops for the perfect find. Follow her adventures on Instagram!
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