100 Days of Christmas... a beaded star garland

For the last two years, I have participated in the 100 Days Project.  In fact, that is how Needle Felted Fairytales came about - because for my first 100 Days Project, I decided to needlefelt something every day for 100 days.  This year, it was meant to kick off in July, but due to website delays, it hasn't started yet - so I am doing it anyway.  Last year I wrote a children's book; this year I am doing 100 Days of Christmas, because I love Christmas, and every one of my Christmas decorations is handmade. Each year I take part in a Christmas Decoration swap, and last year I found that by the time I had finished my 100 Days Project, I didn't have much time to make decorations.  So this year, I should be sorted!

My first decoration is a Christmas star garland.  I have had these beautiful Christmas fabrics sitting in my fabric box for the past few years, unsure of what to do with them.  I came up with this project to help showcase these beautiful fabrics.

You will need:
Fabric and backing fabric
Thread
Filling
Buttons
Beads

I made a star template on a scrap piece of card (empty cereal boxes are great for making templates), and drew around it onto the fabrics (and also onto a backing fabric).  I sewed them together, leaving a gap to stuff with a little bit of filling. Don't overfill them. (I used a sewing machine to sew the stars together, but you could also handsew them too).

I then sewed up the gap, and topped the star with a button in the middle.


After making a number of stars, I brought out my stash of beads, and began to join the stars together with beads, using a needle and thread.  This was the fun part! This is a great way to use those beads that you don't know what to do with.

You could make this garland using any basic shape, such as hearts, or circles.  You could alternate the stars with hearts, or make a garland with just hearts, which could then be used on Valentines Day, birthdays, and Easter.