GARDEN FELT BALL GARLAND TUTORIAL

I saw some amazing ribbon at Paper Source back when I was planning my daughter's 5th birthday party. A FAIRY PARTY so it was just perfect. I knew it had to be worked into the plan somehow. I got a spool and it has gone surprisingly far. I made two garlands out of it, plus I used some to sew onto the finished package... and I still have some left over. It was a good purchase.

The felt balls I got for the party were a different color palette than this tutorial. When my sister-in-law saw the finished garland at the party she said, "oh... that would go so good in...." you know, I had to make her one too, in the correct color palette of course. So I ordered up more felt balls and made her a little garland for her daughter's room.

Here's a quick tutorial so you can make one too.

SUPPLIES
Leaf Ribbon from Paper Source
Felt Balls (yellow. green. periwinkle) - I got a 20-25mm pack of 25 from HoneyCanada
Neutral DMC Crochet Thread
Needle - Use one with a large eye, but also sharp.
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

PROCESS
1. I lay out the balls in a long line in the order I want to string them.
2. Thread your needle, you'll be stringing the balls on a single strand of thread.
3. At the end of the thread, make a loop (for hanging the garland), and then tie a knot to secure the loop.
4. Thread the first ball and take it all the way to that knot, leaving the loop as the end of your strand. Poke the needle back through the ball so that you have a bit of leftover of the 2nd piece of thread on the other side of that ball. You'll need that later to secure the leaf ribbon to the ball strand. Hot glue the knot to the ball at it's end entry point.
5. Continue to thread all of the balls in the order you'd like, leaving as much space as you'd like. I spaced mine out about 2" in the end. They needed a bit more space once the ribbon was twisted around the balls.
6. At the last ball make a loop (the same size as the other end) and thread it back through that same ball. I try to NOT go through the same entry hole. Leave some leftover thread and take out the needle.
7. Tie a knot at the other end of that last ball to secure the ball in place. Hot glue the knot to the ball.
8. Going back to the other end of the strand - Tie the leaf ribbon to the ball strand, using the extra bit of thread that was left over, tie it on with a square knot. Be sure to tie it past the first leaf so the ribbon doesn't slide out of the knot. Secure that knot with a dot of hot glue.
9. Twist the ribbon around each empty space between the balls so that the two strands are intertwined.
10. Just before the last ball, tie the ribbon onto the ball strand using the extra bit of thread that was leftover.
11. Secure that knot with a dot of hot glue. 

I hope that makes sense, the loop thing is a bit tricky to explain, but it enables you to have something to hang the completed strand with. You don't have to have the loops, really. You could attach tassels from the end points instead and hang it up from the strand at any point.

Whatever you choose, it's a sweet, delicate little bit of spring to hang up in the end.

P.S. Make sure you store this wrapped around something. If it gets tangled it's mighty painful to untangle. Truth.