Christmas Party at Nicole Miller

This year I was put in charge of decorations for for our office holiday party.  It was a lot of work, but i had so much fun with it.  I was given a very minimal budget, but luckily our office is the perfect place to get creative.  We have tons of scrap fabric, trim, ribbon, and more.  The ultimate crafter’s wonderland.  I decided to utilize all of that scrap fabric that we always end up throwing away to create and elegant and eco-friendly DIY decoration project. Behold, my tassel garland!

The idea was largely inspired by Confetti System’s beautiful tassel creations.  Here are some beautiful images from their website:

Unfortunately, these garlands can run you at least $150.  Mine were made completely out of scraps and cost $0.  nice =)

OK, so here’s my step by step tutorial (which was also featured on the Nicole Miller Blog!):

First collect a bunch of scrap pieces of fabric. It will make a bigger statement if you decide on a colors cheme ahead of time, to prevent it from getting too messy and random.  For our party, my colors were primarily chartreuse, olive, magenta, and any metallics – kind of my updated version of red and green. You’ll also need scissors and string or ribbon.

Once you have all your fabric, tear it into strips.  You can do this by cutting a notch into the edge of the fabric and tearing apart from there along the grain.  Each strip should be 1-2 feet long and one inch wide.  I really like the raw edge look created by the tearing process.

Next gather a bundle of about 6 strips and tie your string/ribbon at the mid point of the bundle.  you should end up with a knot and two loose ends.

After your knot is tied, fold the bundle in half.  Make sure your knot is inside the fold with the two loose ends sticking out either side of the fold.

Use your two loose ribbon ends to wrap around the top of the folded bundle.

Tie the ends into a knot to secure the fold.

Next use a stick or pointed object to push the longer of the two loose ends through the top loop – your original knot at the fold. This will allow for nice centered hanging.

Make many many many of these tassels with whatever fabric you can find.  I think I made 70-80 in total.  You can obviously make less if you are decorating a smaller space than a fashion showroom.

Once you feel like you have enough, cut a length of string or ribbon as long as you want your garland to be.  Tie your tassels every two inches.  Make sure your knots are tight so that the tassles don’t slide around.

Easy!!  They were a great hit at the office party, and I totally want to re-use this idea for future events or even in my own home!

Oohh, I forgot to mention, I also made centerpieces for the tables around the room!