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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How-to: Mod Holiday Decor

November 26, 2011 Leave a Comment

There was a flash flood in my building last summer that destroyed a bunch of my husband’s and my Christmas decorations, including our fake tree, wreath, all of our lights, and even a few ornaments. Maybe it was a sign telling us to try something new with our holiday decor. We’re new Chicagoans, in a new apartment. Why not try something new? Our apartment has great high ceilings, but sometimes it’s a challenge to find stuff for the walls that doesn’t cost a zillion dollars.

The really cool thing about this relatively easy project (which costs just $10-15 to make) is that if you swap out the wrapping paper with some season-neutral paper, this wall hanging can work year-round.

Supplies 

cardboard

wrapping paper

tape (packing tape works best)

scissors

dinner plate

paper clips

x-acto knife

pencil

nail

mallet/hammer

string

Directions

Lay out your cardboard on your work surface. Trace a dinner plate onto it, creating as many circles as your wall hanging calls for. My wall hanging is 4 circles by 4 circles, so I needed a total of 16.

Cut the outline of each circle using an x-acto knife. I recommend not cutting all the way through your cardboard as it takes forEVER. Instead, cut through just half of your cardboard with the x-acto knife. Then cut the circles out completely using a regular scissors. The x-acto knife step makes cutting cardboard with a scissors a lot easier.

Repeat the x-acto knife/scissors cutting process until all of your circles are cut out. Cutting the cardboard circles is the most time-consuming step in this whole project. Cutting cardboard can get really, really messy. I keep a lint roller on hand to help clean up my work space – it’s a big time-saver.

Next, lay your circles out on the wrong side of some wrapping paper. Cut the wrapping paper into circles about an inch wider than your cardboard.

Tape the wrapping paper to the cardboard. To get the roundest result, I secured my paper in eight evenly-spaced spots around the circle, as shown.

Cut each point that you see sticking up with a scissors, being careful not to cut too far onto the front of the circle or tear the wrapping paper.

Fold the two pieces down and tape them in place.

Repeat this process to cover each circle. I covered half of mine in one type of paper, and the rest in another. I wanted the finished product to have an alternating color pattern.

Lay a scrap of cardboard on your work surface to protect it. Lay one of your circles on it and punch four evenly-spaced holes using a nail and hammer. You won’t have to hit very hard to punch through the cardboard! I also recommend punching the holes from front to back since there will be a little blow out in the direction in which the hole is punched on your circles. I often punched two circles’ worth of holes at once by layering two circles on top of one another to save time.

Once holes have been punched in each of your circles, grab a paper clip and unbend it.

Thread the paper clip through the hole of once circle and then another, connecting them like chain links.

Continue linking all of the circles with paper clips to create your wall hanging. If you’re hoping to create a pattern like I did, be careful about which circles you clip to each other. I made four one-by-four strips of circles first, before linking each strip to each other.

To make your hanging wall-mountable, add a row of paper clips to the top of the top row of circles. Then, thread some string through each of them. Mounting this is as easy as hammering two nails into a wall and hanging the string on them.

Filed Under: Christmas, How-to Tagged With: cardboard, chirstmas decor, mod, wrapping paper

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is an artist, author and crafts designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame. In addition to running the Hands Occupied Blog and Pattern Shop, you can find her making videos & co-hosting the Very Serious Crafts podcast.

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s ab There’s an update on the blog today, & it’s about how I’m going to take the next 2 weeks off to rest & recharge. ☺️🧶 No new content for y’all means I can also take a moment to zoom out & plan what’s next. Link is in bio. 
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A note on Very Serious Crafts: In the post I discuss stepping away from the @seriouscrafts podcast to give myself more time to devote to some minor medical issues. Don’t you worry - my health will be fine, & @molliejohanson @redhandledscissors and I are still pals, and after a short break of their own, the podcast will be back! Just sans moi. 💁🏼‍♀️😆 
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See you in a couple weeks! ✌🏻#handsoccupied #knitdesign #craftdesign #sofadedsweater
Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it shoul Been a little quiet this holiday week, as it should be. ☺️🎄The past few days have been filled with a lot of catching up on festive zoom calls & raising toasts to the camera. 🥂 Connecting with people has been a welcome change of pace! Now I’m feeling ready to meet my inevitable end-of-year deadlines. 😆
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Warmest wishes for the season, my friends! ❤️💛💙
Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker beh Hi, I’m Heidi, the craft book author & maker behind Hands Occupied! 👋🏻 I’ve been enjoying making Reels a lot lately, but I wanted to bop in to share a regular photo & say hello. 🤓 
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rather than giving you my bio right now, I have a question. I just got this new sweater & I can’t stop imaging how funny it would be to wear this to a knitting class ... is that bad? 🤣🤣🤣
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Pictured: a blond woman with glasses wearing a sweater that reads “all your sweaters are ugly” standing in front of a Christmas tree.
Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is o Wet blocking, also called immersive blocking, is one of the most common methods for finishing a knitting project and helping ensure its final size and shape. Learn basic blocking for absolute beginners in an easy-to-follow (non-Reel!) video tutorial! Catch the tutorial on YouTube or the Hands Occupied Blog, link is in bio. 🧶 #handsoccupied #stopswatchandblockit #KPAmbassadorsDec20 #sponsored
Had to share this perfect capture of one of my fav Had to share this perfect capture of one of my favorite weird homemade Christmas ornaments: a simple macramé Santa face with beads for the eyes and nose! My Great-Grandma made it too. 🎄
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Might have to try making a quickie Reel tutorial for this guy - I think it’s the perfect project for it, don’t you? 🎅🏼 #handsoccupied #macrame
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