Before You Throw Away Old Christmas Ornaments, Try Making An Adorable DIY Garland

The tree is up, empty, and full of promise. With glee, you open the oversized bin full of ornaments — but your excitement dims when you remember how scratched, dented, and unattractive some of your decorations have become! Throwing them away is wasteful, but it's easy enough to just leave them off the tree. Rather than toss them, find ways to repurpose your old ornaments around the home this season, like in a gorgeous DIY garland. Simply fill a fabric tube with a series of ball ornaments in similar sizes, tying the fabric around each ball as you go to create a run of round baubles. Not only is this a budget-friendly, low-waste project, it may take you as little as 30 minutes to complete if you're using a sewing machine.

Gather about 20 ball ornaments of similar sizes, and remove any top attachments for hanging by carefully twisting and pulling them off. Source a cut of fabric that's considerably longer than you expect the garland to be. Since the fabric will be covering the rounded form of each ball, you'll need more fabric than just the sum of the balls' widths (i.e., the fabric should be about twice the length of all the ornaments lined up). You may find underused options in your home or at a thrift store; this could be a great way to repurpose old bed sheets, holiday-themed tablecloths, or curtains in a pleasing color or pattern.

To cinch the fabric around each ornament, use thread or yarn in the same color as the fabric to hide the ties. Ribbon or yarn bows could add another level of cuteness along with function. To make the tubes, you'll need a sewing machine, straight pins, and a tape measure.

For this easy fabric DIY holiday ornament, measure the balls' circumference and cut a long piece of cloth a bit wider than that. Using a stretchy knit will give you more leeway. To make a simple, no-sew garland, open the run of fabric, and put your first ornament on it near the end. Fold the fabric over the ball width-wise to conceal it. Cinch the fabric on either side, and tie it with your thread to lock in the ornament. Then, put your next ornament in the fabric, positioning it snug against the previous ball. Wrap the fabric over to cover the ornament, and cinch and tie it on the open side, locking the ornament in. Repeat this until you reach the end. 

For a more secure garland, sew the fabric into a tube for the ornaments to go into. Lay the rectangular cut of cloth with the pattern side up, and fold it in half width-wise. Pin the edges on the long side, and stitch the halves together into a tube, leaving about a ½-inch seam margin. If unfinished fabric edges at each end of the garland bother you, hem the ends of the piece before pinning and sewing it into a tube.

Turn the tube right side out. Slide one ball into the end, and tie that end of the tube securely with string. Cinch the fabric around the ball, and use more string to tie the tube around it as closely as possible to that ball. Slide the remainder of the balls into the tube, cinch-tying the tube around each ball as you go. Now, you're ready to hang the homey garland on the tree, over the mantel, or festooned down a banister.