Raise your hand if you remember School House Rock.
It was the BEST.
There were bills sitting on Capitol Hill who got stuck in committee and Lolly selling adverbs and conjunction junction hooking up words and phrases and clauses and that galaxy girl Interplanetary Janet who was a solar system miss from another world.
It came on every Saturday morning when I would watch cartoons.
It existed before Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or phones that start with I
A time when social and media would never have even been used in the same sentence. A time when people read books and wrote letters and baked pies for each other and met at the fence and had actual face-to-face conversations.
And watched School House Rock.
And one my favorites?
Mother Necessity.
She sat in a chair with her messy bun and her glasses and turned a chair into a rocking chair and inspired Thomas Alva Edison to give his mother light and inspired Samuel Morse to send messages across the pike and Alexander Graham Bell to invent a way of talking on a thing called a phone.
Way before it ever started with an I.
Mother Necessity.
She is amazing.
Because necessity is always the mother of invention.
Like this garland.
I wanted a white garland with berries.
I had the idea in my fall decorating mind and I could not let it go.
Except.
Except no one makes it.
I looked everywhere. I shopped until I dropped and all to no avail. There were orange garlands and red garlands and green garlands and garlands with pumpkins and garland with straw.
But nowhere on this planet could I find a white garland with berries.
And then?
I remembered Mother Necessity.
And made my own.
DIY Fall Garland
1. Find stems
I started with these stems I found at Michael’s for half price.
They were the perfect color and super inexpensive and even came with their own berries.
I bought five of them to make my own garland.
2. cut floral wire
Here’s the floral wire that I cut into 5″ pieces.
You’ll need about 10 pieces of floral wire.
I like green because it blended in better with the dark stems.
3. wire the first stem
I threaded the wire through the first stem and twisted.
You can see here how I twisted the wire and left the ends up in the air.
Make sure this wire it twisted as tightly as possible.
4. Layer in the next stem
Add the next stem to the first stem and wire it onto the garland.
Secure it tightly.
Use another piece of wire to wire the back part of the leaves together.
5. Wire the next stem
Repeat steps 3 and 4 with another stem.
Keep adding floral stems until you have the length of garland that you need.
Here’s my finished garland on the sign.
It was so easy to drape.
You just twist the garland around and attach it to the sign with duck tape.
And this would have been an AMAZING project if this were the end of the story.
Yes.
It would have been amazing if I had School Housed my way through the project and put an exclamation combined with a conjunction and a phrase and left the building.
Except.
Except it didn’t end there.
Five minutes after I hung this garland I came back into the room to find it ALL OVER THE FLOOR.
My beautiful stem garland fell apart. I didn’t use enough wire to hold it all together.
No worries.
I didn’t sweat it. I had my School House rock to inspire me.
I just reached for the duck tape and taped all the stems directly to the sign.
I went all Alexander Graham Bell and invented a new way to create my own garland that just involved duck tape and floral stems.
Thanks Mother Necessity.
You are still alive and well in 2019.
As I've said before, you (Schoolhouse) rock. Another great performance!
And this is just one more reason that YOU are a rock star! Love you!
I've never figured out what I like more; your pictures, your projects or your words. Thankfully, I don't have to choose because each post has all three!
That is a great idea for a garland! I love it!!! I loved Schoolhouse Rock and the original Sesame Street! I was in high school when Sesame Street first came on. But the original Captain Kangaroo was my favorite. I know I'm dating myself, but that's ok. I now have a college student for a granddaughter! :)
Captain Kangaroo was the BEST! I especially loved Mr. Green Jeans.
And Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine!
My kid's teachers have played some of the Schoolhouse Rock songs in their classrooms and they love it. I've often thought that learning would be more fun if everything were a song. And see, it still inspires you today! Along those lines, I love your garland and I have a sneaking suspicion that the Makers of All Things Garland-ey will be inspired by your creation ..... this time next year, watch for white autumnal garlands in the stores!
I still use Schoolhouse Rock in my classroom! We were learning about the Preamble to the Constitution, and students who memorized it could learn extra points. I played the SHR about it, and we sang it. When it came time the next week for reciting, I expected two or three brave souls. Nearly every child did it! It seems they found the video on YouTube and shared the link... Thanks for the memories. Oh, and the garland!
Aww, way to go, Teach! I earned major bonus points in 7th grade Civics class when the Preamble was assigned as homework, and I immediately stood up and recited it, cold, without one mistake. SHR was one of the best things about Saturday morning TV in the 70's. Thanks, Karianne, for the blast from the past--and the creative garland idea!
You are amazing!!!!!! Love the garland and the solution!!!! I remember Schoolhouse Rock-you did Mother Necessity proud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is so gorgeous! I love how delicate and airy it looks! Paige https://thehappyflammily.com
Fabulous. I love Duct Tape and I am also a fan of Clear Packing Tape. They both hold anything and I use them all the time. Love the garland.
You crack me up! Your blog makes my day. Wish we were close enough to have coffee. BTW we spend our Friday nights at the high school football field. Our grandson is in the marching band and our granddaughter cheers. I often think of you at your girls when we’re at the game.
Ingenuity is the mother of invention! Duct tape isn't that just one amazing product? I love the Garland it turned out so pretty and it looks perfect on your gorgeous print!
Thank you, that was so creative, i just cleaned house and sat down to rest and here you are, such a joy! You have a great day Karianne.
Loved the garland. Loved Schoolhouse Rock. Band now dating myself, I got to tap dance with Pinkie Lee on his show, be in the audience at the Howdy Doody Show, and drink milk and play green light red light with Engineer Bill. WOW, I had a great childhood.
Thinking about doing this in a longer version to drape my mantle. From one rockstar to another,thank you. ( Only in my dreams)
You could market a Thistlewood garland!! It's beautiful...love, love!!!
Add that to your line of goodies!! It would sell like hotcakes! And learning is always easier with music - we bought the times tables to music and listened to the CD to and from school until my son got them memorized - two years later, it only took a day or two for my daughter because she remembered most of them from listening with her big brother. I LOVED SHR!
You Schoolhouse ROCK, my friend! I just may do this on my windowpane over my TV! ;-) Pinned!
There ya go! That works perfectly!!!! Well done, KA. Have a fabulous weekend.
Love the garland. . . one of a kind, until we copy it. DIY projects, sometimes they take 3 tries. Thanks for the inspiration. I love thistlekeeping, sometimes I buzz through it & come back to my favs later in the week. It is a fun thing to have a Saturday. Now I need to go to Michaels.
School house Rock was the best ansd I use to sing those tunes in my head as I walked to school every monday morning. Yes I lieterally walked to school up hill both ways... Kidding lol but I did walk there and enjoyed being in the mix of nature on my journey to what was suppose to be hours of learning. This garland is pretty and so simple. All you probably needed to do was twist that wire a little tighter using a pair of crimpers. But hey - duck tape wins again. Was nice chatting with you the other day - Carole
Love the garland, and the story. Always look forward to your posts. Thank you.
I love your style of writing and I always have a smile on my face after I read your words. I just can't get the word art hanging on your wall out of my mind. "Your home is one of a kind." "Your home is loved" I've been thinking about it for days. Did you make this yourself or did you purchase it somewhere? Please share your source or how you made it. It is so lovely and the words are priceless!