Monday, November 16

a 'week of glee' ~ day one

i thought it might be nice to have a 'week of glee'.
of course for some it may seem super duper early to be thinking about 'gleefulness' and all it encompasses, but i do believe the 'crafty masses' think way ahead of time.
knowing the hours that go into creating handcrafted goodness, means we must be 'one step' ahead...
therefore we shall spend the week on the topic of 'glee' and things that make us 'gleeful'... well actually it will be things i find to be 'gleeful' and as you are all the 'gleeful' type, i am hoping you will find the 'glee' i have to offer, to be most appealing.

today's dose of 'glee' is
a little 'gleeful' garland


because quite honestly, there is nothing more gleeful than a garland...
this little garland is so 'gleeful' in her simplicity that really, very little direction is required
and like always dearest readers,
all you will need is a little imagination to take what i have to offer, and make it your own...

my little 'gleeful' garland is crocheted,
but you could easily knit it.
i made all the little flags whilst twiddling my thumbs waiting in the car during chauffeuring duties.
yarn garlands are most perfect for that sort of occasion...

i used worsted weight yarn,
one thrifted cream
and
one lovely speckly red,
kindly donated by my friend Trish down the road, who listened to my sad tale in the grocery line about little old me trying to crochet up some 'christmas glee' without any red yarn. not two minutes after arriving back at the shed, she was on my doorstep with a bag of red 'odds and ends' for me. truly a grand neighbor indeed, sharing her bag of 'glee'...

i double crocheted
(american terminology)
10 cream flags
and
5 speckly red flags


and went for a rectangle shape
measuring roughly 4.5" x 3"
or roughly 11cm x 8cm
the beauty is you can just do what ever size you wish

next, i took some wide vintage lace and cut five pieces off,


lay them upon my red flags and hand stitched the lace in place.


i then laid my little flags out nicely to admire,
being careful not to leave them where little olive would also do some admiring.

i then rummaged around my lace stash, but alas i had no lace skinny enough for the string,
so i rummaged some more and found a thrifted packet of skinny cord in cream, a little shiny for my liking but our #4 assured me as it was a 'gleeful' garland it could surely take a little 'shine'...
i threaded the flags onto the shiny cord in a pleasing order,
hammered two pins in the wall and voila!

so simple i know, and some of you clever ones are perhaps 'rolling in the aisles' as to the simplicity of my 'gleeful' garland, but i wanted to 'show and tell' this little piece of joy because i think it most important to remember that bringing a bit of handcrafted 'gleefulness' to the home this holiday season, doesn't have to involve lots of steps, knowing lots of techniques and spending hours of time on a project.

quite honestly, i'm thinking if you can't knit or crochet, another way to do this would be to get a woolly christmas sweater that your man insists on wearing every year, boil it alive in the washing machine, bemoan the terrible tragedy to him, then quick as an 'elf' get out your scissors, chop out 15 rectangles, add a few bits of lace, sew on the string and voila!

your man can admire his sweater on the wall,
where we all know,
it looks a lot more 'gleeful' as a garland,
then it ever did on him...


she is thinking you may tire of the word 'gleeful' by the end of the week but then again, perhaps not ~ Tif
footynote: i have to just say once again, your comments here and in my inbox over the weekend have been most wonderfully received... truly without a doubt, you have been most generous with your kind words

28 comments:

Serenata said...

I've got so behind with your lovely posts these last couple of weeks - trying to catch up now. How wonderful to be 'an artful blogger' :-)

I do love the crochet gleefull garland and I think I will try this myself. Thank you for the lovely idea.

carole said...

that is a beautiful christmassy garland - thank you!

debbie said...

Hoorah! Your gleefulness did indeed beat my glumness. Thank you. Dx

Blåbærpai said...

wow! what a lovely gleeful garland! Great idea !! 'bout the sweater thing. I can't recall my x-husband possessing one of these awful x-mas jumpers ,and I can only imagine the looks on his face if he had! and if I had boiled it and cut it into a sweet little garland to look upon during the x-mas season,I think he might have been just a tiny bit annoyed.Haha!
but I might do my best to dig out an alredy ruined wooly jumper.I'm sure I've hid a couple in the cellor, not being able to through them away...Great and easy idea! Thanks!
-Blueberrypie

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Very sweet! I like it lots, especially with the pretty lace bits. You have such a huge imagination with craft bits and they all turn out perfectly. Those rectangles are all so flat and even! Mine would not look nearly as nice I fear.

Michelle said...

Bring on the "glee"!!!
just perfect tif...

Amber said...

Absolutely beautiful - I really need to learn how to crochet - especially since here in Hawaii we don't even wear sweaters :-)

GerryART said...

So simple, so wonderful ! ! !
How can something so simple pack such a wallop ?
You have come up with a great holiday decoration that will take us just minutes [well, maybe many minutes] to whip up. With leftovers
Thanks for blogging this for us

Vic said...

Never before have I wanted to go out & scoure the oppies (or thrift shops... as you say....) for a hideously festive Christmas jumper (or sweater, as you say....), but being sorely lacking in the crocheting and or knitting department, that is exactly what I now have the urge to do.

Gleeful indeed.

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

garlands...they have been on my mind all day..i've been rummaging around in thrift shops and craft stores all day searching for things to string....

feeling a little experiment coming on..

yours are adorable..thanks for sharing them...they just make me HAPPY......

Kary

. said...

Who told you about my man's reindeer jumper? x

me said...

The speckly red looks so much more gleeful in your garlands than in my stash! I'm so pleased that they are behaving and loving their new digs! A new lease on life for them, and oh-so-gleeful!
Hurrah for you!

Kristy said...

So inspiring. You have me wanting to make a garland for our house!

Geek+Nerd said...

Such a cute garland. I love it!

Kylie said...

Love that garland - just gorgeous :) K

Lola Nova said...

I have been thinking about thase dreamy cream colored yarn in that red pot (Dansk?) all day. I think I love them.

The garland is pretty swank too :)

dottie angel said...

lola nova, you do not miss a thing do you :)
yep it's a dansk dish for sure, found 'a thrifting' one day. i have to say they truly do 'yarn balls' justice...

thank you all, for the gleeful comments on my simple little 'garland of glee' :)

Turid Holm Flaa said...

It was a wonderful and easy way to jazz things up a bit now in this dark season. Thank you for this idea. I think I'll try to find some yarn and laces that fit, and make me such. I wish you a very good and creative day.

cloudgathererholdmedown said...

i especially admire that a moment is never wasted and that even waiting during chauffeuring duties your mind and hands dont rest!

pretty gleeful garland
;)

Floss said...

The French would go crazy for your garland this year, Tif - simple red and white is what it's all about this Christmas. It's absolutely lovely.

ami said...

Can't begin to tell you how much I need some "glee" this week-whether it's Holiday Glee or just any garden-variety type of glee...have been in an awful funk for days and this was quite a little shot of happy!!

The Garland is charming and I may even cobble one together from my own scraps and remnants!

Cheers!
x

Elissa said...

oh, i hope i NEVER tire of the word glee! a perfectly subtle garland and, yes, easy peasy. thank you for not "speaking down" to the masses and finding such a sweet way to encourage even the clumsiest of crafters! this would be nice with some vintage cards or crafting papers too.... maybe stitching onto them with a machine or sewing on lace! oh, i think you're onto something with all these garlands. there is, perhaps, nothing more gleeful than a garland.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

I love the simplicity of your gleeful garland and the fact that it is something I can do but never would have thought of. Over the summer, I decided that with all my leftover yarn, I would just crochet squares and one day figure out what to do with them. Now I am inspired to make garland! Thanks for the glee indeed! Best wishes :) Tammy

Unknown said...

Gleeful indeed! I felt the same way about my Natural Treasures garland, for there was no glee after I removed the very "gleeful" witches garland!

watsonthecat said...

this is wonderful - i saw it a posted in a couple different spots today and every time i was drawn to it. simple and reusable

Unknown said...

i'm loving all the gleefulness.

Karen Lewis Textiles said...

That garland is just divine. It is exquisitely simple and beautiful and I want one!

FrolleinFranetzki said...

wow, what cool idea :) I totally agree with you that the beauty of simplicity often is the best! puh, well, now I'll get myself some yarn start and get going. I simply need one of these garlands :) thank you for inspiring me!