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October has to be one of my favorite months next to December. The air starts getting cool and you get to break out all those great fall and winter clothes that you had packed away (or in my case laying on the basement floor waiting to be washed. -_- don’t judge me bro.)

As a kid I was taught that Halloween was an evil holiday and my family didn’t celebrate it. It kind of made me sad because my birthday lands during the month of October and for a while I hated that it was during such an “evil and scary” month. Having moved out and developed a brain of my own, I’ve found that holidays are really what you make of it. While I’m sure there are some less than savory activities performed during this month, I can chose how I wish to celebrate it. So I’ve really started to enjoy the holiday for what it really is….a time to get a sugar high and dress up….that’s it. I’m also a sucker for decorating for the holidays, except I don’t have a lot of cash so I’ll try to make whatever item I want and if I fail miserably then I’ll go out and buy it. I saw several versions of “vintage” Halloween garlands except they were quite pricey…And never one to pass up a challenge I decided I would try to make my own. Obviously it was a win, otherwise I wouldn’t be sharing how to make such cool garland with you guys. So here’s how to make your very own for Halloween!

You Will Need:

1.) Some fun Halloween paper. I got “The Spooky Time Stack” and the “Halloween and Fall Stack“. The Spooky Time Stack is made of a heavy card stock and the Halloween and Fall Stack is made out of a more regular paper.

2.) Black Yarn

3.) Glue (any kind is good as long as it’s made for paper.)

4.) A couple of sheet white paper

5.) A pen

6.) Scissors

7.) A ruler

How To Make Vintage Halloween Garland:

1.) The first thing you’ll want to do is make a lettering that is large enough to read. If you want to make your own lettering like I did you might want to use the ruler to make sure all the letters are the same size. For my sketches, I made each letter about four inches high. The font is really up to you. You can use a very straightforward design or you can create a kind of crazy artistic kind like I did. Sketch whatever phrase or letters you’ll be using on the white paper and cut them out. These will become stencils for you to use.

2.) Take the stencil letters and put them on another white sheet of paper. These will tell you how large to make your triangles and other shapes. You want to make sure that the letters fit on the “flags” you make. I’ve cut out triangle pieces for the “Happy” part, and these weird squares with the corners cut out for the “Halloween” part. You might also want to make another mini triangle to fit onto the large one so that you can add more contrasting colors.

3.) Once you have all the stencil cut out start picking out papers you’d like to use. Be sure to use your stencils on the back sides of the paper. That way the marks that your pen or pencil make won’t be visible on the front of your garland. Also be aware of readability. I did all the letters in a textured black paper, however the triangles and the strange squares are really up to you. I just suggest that if you pick a really crazy background for the large triangle or square, that you pick a more subtle or complementary paper for the smaller triangle or square, one that will really pop out the black letters.

4.) If you have an X-acto knife now would be the time to use it especially if your design is complicated. I sadly do not have one of these so I just cut very carefully with scissors. Once you have everything cut out, it’s time to put it all together. Take a big triangle and glue a smaller triangle to it. Once that is dry glue the letter to it. If you’ve used cardstock you might notice a bowing or bending of the paper. Don’t worry. Once it dries, put it under something heavy like a stack of books to get it flattened out again. Do the same thing to the square pieces.

5.) Once you have everything glued up, you want to cut out small thin tabs. I cut tabs that were about a quarter of an inch wide and about 4 inches long. You will want to glue these in such a way that they create little loops in the backs of your triangles and squares. Just glue one end to the triangle or square and then glue the other end to that…there should be a loop that you will use to string it up. Once all this is dry, thread some black yarn through the loops and you’re ready to hang them!

Extra Credit! Because that was just too easy for you!

After doing all the stuff above, if you still find yourself needing a little extra something here’s how to make fringe to go in between each letter. In order to do this all you will need is yarn, a hand (preferably your own), and scissors.

1.) Take the end of the yarn and start to wrap it loosely around your hand. I would wrap it around 20-25 times. Once you’re done wrapping it tie a string around the top part. Slide it off your hand. On the ends that are longer, cut them so that they are no longer loops but hanging free. This is the fringe part. Tie a little string from the top of the tied part to the string that holds your letters. I made one of these fringe things to go between each letter and at the ends.

After that you’re done. This can be hung in door ways or if you have a fireplace this is a perfect place to put it. 🙂 – Heather Astaneh