Three Easy Memorial Day DIY Decorations

When did the Memorial Day weekend sneak up on us? It’s hard to believe it is already the end of May! However, Memorial Day is a very important national holiday, when we honor and mourn those who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. I love our flag and all it represents and for me, red, white and blue are the respectful colors I use to decorate. Though many people think of Memorial Day as a long weekend to begin summer, Memorial Day is much more than that. Here are three easy Memorial Day DIY decorations you can make before the Monday holiday.

Paper Patriotic Garland

Since we have a few fireplaces here at Bella Terra, I love decorating them with a garland. You can use any themed paper from a craft store or in this case, I had some Hester & Cook paper placemats and a paper runner in Stars and Stripes. If you are not familiar with Hester & Cook, they have a vast selection of paper goods, kitchenalia, lighting and numerous other items.

All you need is pretty paper, twine, scissors and a glue stick and you are ready to go! This is also a fun and easy project with children or grandchildren.

To see the detailed DIY instructions on making this paper garland, click here.

Fabric Garland

On a scale from one to 10, the easy factor on this garland is a one or two. Plus if you like ripping fabric, it does help release a bit of stress!

The only supplies you need are fabric in red, white and blue, scissors, a ruler and twine. Since I am starting with a patriotic-themed fabric, I don’t need additional fabric colors. You can make this using plain red, white and blue fabric to achieve a similar look.

In order to make the strips of fabric similar in width, I use a ruler and start the beginning of the ripping with scissors. So easy as you just rip and tear into fabric strips and tie them onto the twine.

I believe my twine is 6 feet long and I add 30 strips of fabric. When you tie them on, make sure the right side of the fabric is facing out.

To see the detailed DIY on making this fabric garland, click here.

Vintage Folk Garland

Full disclosure. I did not make this, but my sweet friend, Gwen, made this garland for me decades ago. Each year when I hang it, I think of her. Gwen is a friend you want to keep for life. She is incredibly talented, smart, loyal and I have learned so much from her.

Red ribbon serves as the twine and it stitched through the garland pieces. The star has a hand-stitched circle of blue beads for detail.

The American Flag is stained with tea to give it a vintage look. The small white beads add texture and interest. And check out the back. Not sure if she started with a quilted material or did the top stitching herself. Naturally, making this type of garland is more time consuming than the ones above.

But I love the attention to detail and the care in which Gwen made this…..and gave it to me.

Patriotic Wreath

This DIY is beyond simple. All you need is a wreath frame, assorted ribbons (or fabric), floral wire and a pair of scissors. Since I have way too much ribbon, this project does use up as much as you want.

The wreath is a series of bows scrunched together. Again, this is a great project while sitting in front of the television or listening to a podcast. It is easy enough for children to help.

If you don’t want to pre-make the bows with floral wire, I would imagine strips of fabric tied into bows on the wreath frame will work equally well. With this wreath, I use a single floral hoop. If you want to use the wreath frame in the photo above, you can add more bows for a fuller wreath.

Floral hoops and wreath frames can be found online. If you need assorted patriotic ribbon, see it here. I seem to use floral wire for everything so I always have some on hand.

What is nice about making patriotic decorations now, is you can use them for Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. And once you make these DIY items, you can use them year after year.

Happy Thursday, my friends! Have a truly magnificent day.

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