DIY Wood Bead Garland With Tassels

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Trends come and go (of course). Some trends I don't care about, and some trends I just love. The wood bead garland trend....well, I'm all about that. You would know if you looked throughout my house. I have beaded garland, at least one, in every room. My husband hates them. In fact, I bought a wood beaded chandelier and he pretty much told me that he's not allowing a taxicab driver's beaded seat to hang from our ceiling. Ha! You know, I never thought about how they do look similar until he said that? 

And now I can't un-see it.... at least these ones are different colors :) So, yeah, he's not thrilled to be reminded of a taxi every room he goes in to. That being said....I'm sure taxi's aren't the only ones with this cover, just sayin'. 

Instead of one hanging from our ceiling, I do have rows of the seat strewn about the house. I'm not sure what's better...one ceiling or every room in the house? ;) ...don't worry, the one for the ceiling is still going up. 

So, I bought one of the beaded garlands, then realized that they would be a ton cheaper to make and super easy too! So, I have made seriously like 10 of these...I know. Obsessive. I think they are just the perfect addition to any weird 'blank space'. 

For instance, this tray would have been boring...then I added the bead garland.

Boom, not boring... :)

Okay, so here's the super simple tutorial on how to make these. Could be obvious in some ways, but tricky in others. So, lets get going. 

Supplies:
Jute
Tape
Scissors
Hot glue
Beads -Got mine from Amazon (link). The garland in the tray is using 20 mm beads, the garland in the bowls (below) are 16 mm. You could make probably 2 or 3 garlands for each set of beads depending on how long you want them. The size in the tray would be the 2/3. The size in the bowl is 8 garlands.

 Step 1: Cut off a piece of jute about 10" longer than you want your garland to be. Tape off one end with tape, kind of circling around it. This will make it easier to send the jute through the holes. Tie off the other end with a double knot. leaving a 5" tail. String the beads. Tie off the taped end close to the beads with a double knot, leaving about a 5" tail. Don't have the beads super tight against each other or else the garland won't relax. So, when you tie the last knot, do it about an half inch to an inch away from the last bead.

 Step 2: Cut five or so pieces of jute in the same size. These are roughly 6" each. If you want longer, make them longer. On the ends of the strung beads, tie the tail around the middle of the five pieces of jute. Or, for visual learners, you can make a circle and knot it, then slide the jute through.

 Like so....

 Step 3: Get another piece of jute, approximately 15-20". Tie one end around the 5 jute pieces, securing it tightly by pulling. The tail on this one is about 3" or make it the same length as the jute around it.

 Then start wrapping the jute around all the other pieces. When you like the way it looks, cut it off and use the hot glue to adhere the end into place. Here's a thicker wrap, using a lot more jute.

 And a smaller wrap, using less jute. It just depends on the look you are going for.

 These are the shorter ones that I made 8 of for my dining room. 

 Here's the longer one on the tray again. You can see that I used longer pieces of jute for the ends and somewhat thicker wraps. 

 I have another one resting in a small dough bowl. As you can see, perfect for an empty space! I had no idea what to put in this little guy, and the bead garland was perfect.

 As for my table and the bowls. Another thing that I didn't know what to put in. I usually put greens or something in the place settings during spring, but I had so much greenery going on. So, I kept thinking about what the heck would look decent because the bowls looked so empty. Then I got the idea to just add small little bead garlands.

 I kind of like the way they look! It would be super easy to add little wood tags with names on here for special dinners. What do you think? 

So, are you a fan of this trend? Does it remind you of taxi cabs? Ha! ...Well, now does it remind you of taxi cabs? I hope I didn't ruin it for you.... Just think, maybe it's not a trend after all. I mean, those beaded seat covers have been around for decades! Trends don't last that long ;)

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