So most of you may already know, but I am an American that has lived in Australia now for nine years and one month. I have to say that one of the holidays I miss most is, Thanksgiving. It was a great time knowing that our family was going to get together and have a magnificent feast!!! Although Australia has a thanksgiving day of its own, it is not nearly as celebrated or as festive as ours.
I have wanted to do a Thanksgiving dinner every year, but, truth be told, I would probably melt away in this heat! Well, it has been too long! I decided to crank up the air conditioning and invite some close friends to join my husband, our kids, and I in a Thanksgiving meal.
Being as I was very excited this year and put up all the Christmas decorations, it already looks very festive. But I did want a special touch of a Thanksgiving theme on the table. This is where my Thanksgiving rag Garland comes into play. It’s a inexpensive way to make something really pop!!
I contacted a very sweet friend of mine who is all too generous in donating her scraps for my cause! And I have to say that it turned out exactly the way I was hoping. I will do an update after I take pictures at Thanksgiving!!
Used:
Thin rope
147 pieces of fabric
19-20cm long
4-5cm wide
This made a garland that’s 64cm long!!
Then I added a string of tiny red LED lights!
Enjoy!
(PS, the more it frays over the years the better. I like rustic! But, for a clean look, you can use pinking shears on the end or something)
First I started by cutting all of my strips. They are not perfectly the same which I like. Then I shuffled them in random order as I did not have equal amounts of pieces.
Next, I simply tied them in a loose knot onto the rope. I knew I would need to slide them down as they went. Also, larger the knot, the more rope it covers. If I make them tight, the knot is too small.
Then, I made a cup of tea. 😉
When I was through, I loosened them up and spread them out a bit more making sure the Rope was still covered. At the ends, I tied a very tight slipknot in case I ever want to hang it. In the end, I can put something prettier if I choose through the slip knots.
I then went to every few ribbons and pulled one ribbon left and the other right creating more of a 3-D effect.
We will have a very long table for Thanksgiving and I will put this going down the centre like a runner.
I love the random patterns in this.
I found a long thin wire that had red LED lights on it. I wove this through the Garland and used the fabric to hide wire, but exposed the lights.