How To Make a Deco Mesh Garland

Deco Mesh (also goes by the name poly sinamay mesh)

has been the secret ingredient for florist

and decorators for years now.  I have not seen it

available for sale even in stores that normally have
floral supplies but Hobby Lobby did have a
 few colors this year on their Christmas ribbon aisle

and I bought several rolls when it was 50% off.   

It normally comes in rolls 21 inches wide by 10 yards long! 
That is a lot of length for the money.

These were normally $10 but only $5 a roll
when they were on sale.

Due to new fire safety regulations at the hospital that I work at,
we could no longer use the artificial greenery that we had
used in the past to decorate a Christmas.  I had seen some
decorations made with Deco Mesh and decided to give it
a try for  new holiday decorations for the nurseries.

I looked on the internet for directions on how

 to make a Deco Mesh garland. There are

 "work garlands" available for purchase (about $8
for a 9 foot length) but they didn't look very

complicated so I just made my own "work garlands".

The materials for the base of the garlands were

purchased from Michaels but they are available
at other craft stores and  too.

This aluminum floral wire was perfect...

it was strong enough but easily to bend and cut.

The chenille stems are what we used to call

"pipe cleaners". You might find other products that

 work well too...this is just what was readily

available to me.  The wire will show through

 the mesh so pick a color that will go with the mesh.

I measured out the length of floral wire needed and then

attached the chenille stems about 8" apart along the length.

This garland was 7 feet long with some extra length of

wire added to the ends for attachment purposes.

This is a base for a 3 foot garland.

Twist the stems along the wire to keep them in place.

On the garlands I wasn't in a super rush to get up, I also glued the  twisted stems in place.

Gather the mesh in your hand in a folding/accordian manner.

If you want "tails" on your garland, leave some

length before your first gather.

Attach your gathered mesh on top of the twisted stem

and secure it by twisting the stem on top of the mesh tightly.

 Gather the mesh again at a point far enough along

the length to make a "pouf" of mesh and attach it at the next stem.

The mesh wanted to curl back on itself so I had to roll a

 lot out and weight it down on the end.

Work your way down the wire gathering, poufing, attaching.

Again, if you want "tails", leave some length at the end.

If you want to add more layers of deco mesh, just use the same

technique and place more mesh poufs on top of the original mesh.

Secure each gather point with the chenille stems.

When you are finished adding mesh, twist the stems to the

back of the garland to hide them.

For transporation purposes, I rolled the tails up

Here is one of the garlands above a door.

I thought the wide mesh looked better cut into thirds

 on the end to look kind of like curled ribbon.

I attached the garlands to the wall with Command hooks. 

 The garland is very light weight but I bought

the 5 pound hooks anyway. 

Decorative items can be placed along the garland.

I intended to put more lightweight gingerbread-themed

 ornaments at the gather points but that was a holiday project

that never got done. 

There are four of these doors along the hallway. 

I couldn't put any "swag" in these garlands because we

 have equipment like x-ray machines going in and out the door.

For the other nursery, I used the same technique

 but different colors and some layering

I used the 21 inch wide red mesh and then layered

 on a 10 inch wide apple green mesh on top.

These were for a very long window so I made the garlands

 in several 6 foot lengths for ease of transportation.

Here is the red and green garland with some lightweight

Christmas stuffed animals attached.

I attached the animals after I got the garland up.

I liked this shot.  Through the window it shows

a newborn baby getting its first bath.

These stuffed animals were only about $3 each at WalMart.

On these tails, I cut the red mesh in half. 

The mesh curled itself and stayed curly all month.

This door only needed a 3 foot garland. 

With the DIY method of making a base, you can

make the garland as short or long as you need.

Even the long garlands cost less than $10 each to make

(without the decorations).

I also put the deco mesh on the old wreath to tie

it in with the look of the garland.

2012 UPDATE ON GARLANDS:

The deco mesh garlands were made for 2011.  I didn't have

a great place to store them so they got put in the attic in 

a sort of "loose pile" of deco mesh.  When Christmas 2012

rolled around, some of the mesh poufs were not so pouffy.

  

When I had seen some more plaid deco mesh for sale

in the summer at Hobby Lobby, I luckily got a few more rolls.

I was able to add another layer of the same deco mesh on top

of the slightly squished poufs attaching it with the same

pipe cleaners that were already on the aluminum wire.

I'm happy to report that they look even better now.

By the time I realized that I needed some more deco mesh

for the red and green garland at the other nursery, I had

already made my "run" to the neighboring town that I get

most of my deco mesh from.  I did, however, have some 

white deco mesh left over from a wedding. I decided that

it was "good enough" and added it to the green and red.

The Deco Mesh in this post was Christmas colors but

this same technique can be used in making garland

for other holidays, birthday parties, showers, etc.

Some other deco mesh items I have made 

are wreaths,  pumpkins,a Santa Belly and curly wreaths.