DIY: Tassel Garland (+ A Sequined Decorative Letter)

Happy Sunday everyone! I woke up to a thunderstorm this morning (Queue "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 am I right?!)  and what's better than crafting on a rainy summer day? Nothin'. So that is exactly what I did, with the company of a few of my best friends.

As seen all around the Pinterest-sphere, tassel garlands are quite the trend. Made from all different colors, these decorations can cost up to a whopping $50. How these things could be worth that much, I don't know. But what I do know is that they're extremely simple to make. I made one already for my dorm, and it turned out perfect. Today, I'll show you a step-by-step tutorial on how to make your own tassel garland, with the help of one of my best friends, Jacklin (thanks Jax!).

Supplies needed:

• Tissue Paper
• Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue
• Twine, String, Wire, etc. (For Hanging)

1. Select a sheet of tissue paper in any color you'd like. (Hint: to add some sparkle to your garland one of your papers should be metallic– I found mine at Michael's) One sheet makes four tassels, which was enough for me. If you're wanting a longer garland, simply use more tissue paper, but remember 1 paper = 4 tassels
2. Fold your paper "hot dog" style (horizonally)
3. Fold your paper "hamburger" style (vertically)
4. Fold it again "hamburger"style
5. On the edge that isn't the folded edge, begin cutting from the bottom up, stopping about 2" from the top of the paper. I usually cut my fringe to be around 1cm but you can cut it how ever skinny or fat you'd like
6. Cut until you've done the whole sheet
7. Unfold the paper once
8. Cut down the middle so you have two separate sheets
9. One sheet will be needed to be cut once more down the middle
10. You should now have 4 undone tassels
11. Unfold one of the four sheets
12. Gather the sheet at the middle (where there is no fringe) by pinching, or you can roll it
13. Twist the center
14. Create a loop by twisting the whole center
15. Place one dot of hot glue in the loop
16. Squeeze the loop until hardened

Continue  these steps until you've made all the tassels you want. When finished, string the tassels through your desired method, I chose twine for mine! (I also decided to hot glue the tassels in place so they wouldn't all slide to the middle- but this step is completely optional) Ta-da! You have your own tassel garland for a fraction of the price you could buy one for.

While I was on my crafting rampage this afternoon, I decided I'd make a little something else for my dorm. I've seen some sequined letters all over Pinterest and while I was browsing my local Michael's store (one of my favorite things to do might I add), I found the perfect, cheap faux-leather letter to do it with. 

Supplies:

• Faux-leather Letter (found at Michael's)
• Sequin "trim"
• Hot Glue Gun + Glue

This DIY is pretty self-explanatory so I'm not going to go into too much detail, but basically I lined the letter with the sequin trim, then to cover the frayed edges I outlined the entire letter in the same trim. I love how it turned out.

I hope I added a little sparkle to your day (literally and figuratively) and maybe inspired you to do a little diy-ing yourself. I'd love to know what you think about the projects and if you tried them yourself! Have a great week!