Simple Stairway Garland

If you watched my Instagram stories yesterday, I was bustin’ a move during naptime to get my stairway garland put up before the little ones got back up at 100mph. Sometimes I do projects during naptime because it’s just so much easier to accomplish without kids around. Other times, it’s for my sanity. I can crank my Christmas music (well…crank may be an exaggeration because of the whole naptime thing), focus on just one task at a time, and welcome a little more creativity into the project at hand.

That was the goal for this stairway garland. When I ordered what I thought was a diamond in the rough garland for an unbelievable price, I didn’t realize that I was actually getting a REAL 25′ piece of garland. Whoops. Pretty big oversight! But to my defense, there were a LOT of comments from disgruntled people that did the exact same thing as I did.

I just posted about my TEN BEST FAUX GARLANDS on the market right now and I didn’t get a single one of them because I thought I found something new to share with you today. Yes, it is new and different. But not exactly what I had in mind. 🙂

So never the less, I received a fresh garland which forced me to get a little more creative. I now couldn’t use lights because I didn’t want the pine and cedar to dry out or overheat in the slightest. I wanted to position it differently so that my little ones can still use the railing without getting a fistful of pine needles. And I wanted to add in a pretty pink ribbon that I had used in different places around my home.

I had to take something I didn’t expect to receive and make it something beautiful for my entryway. And I’m thrilled with the end result! A simplistic look with pretty eucalyptus trailing through the pine and cedar, finished off with a soft, flowing ribbon. It may just have even turned out better that what I had originally planned.

Since I wasn’t able to include lights into this garland for fear of overdrying and overheating, I wanted to do something different to illuminate this area at night. These lanterns are priced so well and are very high quality. They sit about 9.5″ tall and are priced under $8 each. I teamed them up with these 4″ flameless LED pillar candles that have saved me with their timer feature. The first night, I turned them all to the “timer” setting. They remained on for 5 hours before automatically shutting off….and then they turn on that exact same time every single night until you change the setting. These pillar candles come on at 5pm and turn off at 10pm every night without having to open lanterns and click anything on. It’s a lifesaver!

The eucalyptus garland I wrapped around the live garland added a bit more texture and dimension to this simple spread without changing the neutral color of it. I didn’t want a lot of bright colors on this garland this year. I wanted more of a fullness that came from “nature.” I was able to get a 3-pack of 6′ eucalyptus garland from Amazon for $21. 6′ was exactly the amount needed to weave it down the live garland on each side, and then I took the final piece and cut it in half to go down each of the newel posts.

It’s beautifully made and very simple to hide the fakeness in the plastic stems. When you weave it among the live garland, a simple tuck or lay over can do wonders to hide anything that doesn’t look real. That’s why I love to weave it around the garland to make hiding and enhancing a bit easier to do.

A real garland was not what I had in mind this Christmas but I now look at it and couldn’t imagine anything different. Yes, it’s early and I have a potential mess on my hands as this garland dries out, but that’s for another day to worry over. Today, I’ll enjoy the sights, the smells (oh, the smells of this pine are incredible!), and enjoy this pretty addition to our entryway.

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Get the Look

25′ Mixed Pine and Cedar Garland

3-Pack of 6′ Eucalyptus Garland

Rose Gold Satin Ribbon

9″ Black Metal Lantern

4″ LED Flameless Candle

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