I made this simple 4th of July garland from materials I already had: felt, macrame cord, white acrylic paint, and brass jump rings.
It was July 3rd and I was feeling creatively pent up, so I gave myself a free-form craft hour and this is what I made. I was pleasantly surprised with the results, so I wanted to share it with you!
P.S. I keep reading ‘July Garland’ as ‘Judy Garland’.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that, at no cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. Thank you!
4th of July garland materials:
- 5 mm twisted cotton macrame cord or cotton rope
- Brass jump rings
These are what I used to hang the stars from the cord, and I really like how they make the stars appear to dangle and float.
I considered sewing them onto the macrame cord instead, so that could be a good alternative if jump rings aren’t available. - Red, white, and blue felt
Stiff is best if you can find it. - White acrylic paint
- A small, flat top paint brush
- Jewelry pliers
- A large needle, such as a tapestry needle
- A star template
I used a star I punched out of a piece of paper with a large paper punch,
but you could just print an image of a clip art star and use that.
Or draw your own! - Chalk
- Scissors
How to make your DIY 4th of July garland:
1. Trace and cut out the stars
Use the chalk to transfer the shape of the star onto the felt. I found the best way to do this is to sketch the chalk half on the template and half on the felt.
After making a couple stars on each color of felt,(I did 5 of each color), cut the stars out.
2. Paint some stripes
I painted 3 out of 5 of my red stars.
Dip the tip of the flat topped paintbrush into the acrylic paint and lightly paint stripes across the stars. I found I needed to re-dip my brush after each stripe, and then touched up the ends of the stripes as needed.
Let dry. This takes only about 10 minutes.
3. Prepare the macrame cord
Cut macrame cord to your desired length and make a knot at each end. This will prevent the cord from unraveling.
Space out the stars along the cord. (You can measure so that they’re evenly spaced, but I just eyeballed it!)
4. Open the jump rings
When working with jump rings, it’s important to twist them to open.
As you can see in this image, the jump ring has been opened by twisting— I held one end with my fingers and the other with the pliers, and then twisted the ends away from each other (a motion like wringing a towel— but WAY gentler.)
If the ends are pulled straight apart, the jump ring is likely to break.
5. Put the jump rings on the stars
Use the large needle to make a hole at the tip of the star.
Leave the needle in the felt at its widest point (the eye) for a few seconds to make the hole stay.
Remove the needle. If the hole disappears or isn’t big enough, repeat.
Thread the opened jump ring through the hole.
6. Attach the stars to the macrame cord
Because the jump rings are tiny, they aren’t big enough to go all the way around the macrame cord. I threaded the ring through just one of the twisted strands.
After threading through, use the pliers to close the jump ring. Repeat with all stars.
Have fun!
