Molly's Sketchbook: New Year's Garland

New Year's is all about celebrating the the passing of an old year, and toasting to a bright future ahead. I wanted to make a fun garland to decorate my apartment as I ring in 2010, one that reflected the bubbly exuberance of the holiday.

Whenever I want to make something fun, bright, and quick I turn to our great selection of 100% wool felt. The wool picks up dye very well so the colors are super saturated. Some colors, like the pink, almost seem to be emanating light! I chose a vivid selection of pinks, oranges, yellows, and greens as well as ecru because they seem hopeful and cheery to me.

This project couldn't be easier or more satisfying to make. You simply trace a bunch of circles from our New Year's Garland Template onto felt, cut them out, and then sew them together in one long seam using ultra strong Invisible Thread. It was so easy that after I was done I wanted to make one in every color: Blues for a boys baby shower, yellows for an Easter party, red, white and blue for the fourth of July, and earth tones for Earth Day! The possibilities are endless!

If you'd like to make your own garland, to ring in the new year (or for any reason at all!), please check out my New Year's Garland Project Journal. --Molly

HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us at The Purl Bee!

Comments

[Luschka]

That looks so lovely and quite festive (not in the Christmas sense!). Very nice!

[PATRICIA]

Gorgeous! I love this blog.

Kisses
Patrícia Silvério
(www.colareseafins.blogspot.com)

[meg]

so bright and fun!

[RagSoul]

Fun -- I know what I'll be doing with the kids for New Years (FYI - found you in FiberArts Magazine)

~Blessings

[Whatever DeeDee Wants]

I love how bright and bubbly it is!

[Susan]

how pretty! you are so creative!

[Wendy]

Am I the only one who thinks it's funny that the invisible thread comes in two different colors? ;)

And yes, my daughter and I will be making this soon. I bet she could even do it herself. Thanks!

[lana]

molly, love that breakfast nook w/ the sunshiny window and the bright garland!

[Renee M-B]

Wow! Love this. Am so into spots at the moment! Thanks for this wonderful idea and clear instructions.

[Jackie @ Lilolu]

Very happy, is the feeling I got when I looked at the garland. Good choice of colors!

[Meredith from Penelope Loves Lists]

This is EXACTLY why I love The Purl Bee: your ideas make me happy. Thanks for the jolt of joy.

[Elena]

I will look forward to your posts on the new year Molly!. They are always great. elena

[crazycrafter]

This garland is SO adorable! Thank you for your blog! Blessings,
Hannah, age 12

[Phoebe]

I just finished this project for a children's New Years Party tomorrow. I love the way it turned out and it was so fast to put together.
Thank you!

[Deb]

The garland is bright, cheery, and perfect for the new year!

[alyssa johns]

love it! i made a similar one for christmas by sewing paper circles. i love the colorful felt you used. very nice.

www.reworkedart.blogspot.com

[ara jane]

i made this garland for my new year's day party and it was a huge hit among my guests. no one could believe that i made it, and i felt just a little smug about how easy it was to put together. thank you for the lovely tutorial and continual inspiration!

[Amanda]

Thanks so much for this post! I just finished making this to celebrate my daughter's 4th birthday tomorrow! I let her pick the colors and we ended up with a darker mix (deep red, hunter green, navy blue), pink, and a glittery white! It looks so great and I think she will love it when she wakes in the morning to see it hanging all over the kitchen and dining room! We will most likely leave it up to celebrate her birthday and the new year (my birthday too) all of January! We are going to try to cut out little hearts and make one for February too! Thanks so much for the lovely idea and great tutorial!! xoxo

[Roselee]

Thank you for sharing such a fun, easy project! It was a great way to satisfy my daily need to craft while home with a sick 3 year old. We, too, decided to make lots (some circles and some squares) to decorate for her birthday (and just perk up the house after the holiday decorations came down). We also thought hearts for February would be a fun project to plan next.
Thank you, thank you!

[CardboardBoxMakingMachine]

Lovely and colourful, perfect for a birthday celebration, im going to trying this out for my little ones 3rd bday next month, thanks!

[Estelle]

Oh my, I just found this site and I'm loving it. I've already found five new projects I must begin as quickly as possible. What an inspiration. Can't wait to make this garland. You guys just made my week so much better. Thanks!

[fanofdots]

http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlenoun

I bought a similar paper garland from this new Etsy shop! Very cute!

[Nancy]

Hey,
My husband gave me something similar that he purchased somewhere but it's not as wonderfully bright and colorful as this one. Loving it!
Have been a reader for a few years and thanks so much!!
Happy New Year!

[sarah j]

LOVE this, made it for my husband's birthday in primary colors.. the kids helped with the cutting of the circles.. so as lovely as it could be with the help of 4 and six year olds. Thanks for the inspiration and great instructions.

~ Sarah

[em]

Great, simple idea! I made one with felt hearts thrown in for Valentine's Day - adds great color for the bleak mid-winter. Thanks.

[Birgit]

I did it with hearts for V-Day and boy was it a surprise for my daughter - I put a large heart in the middle with some spare ribbon as trim and used one of those fancy stitches on my machine (one that I never use otherwise) to connect all the hearts. My daughter was so so very surprised in the morning.