3 last minute + simple diy garlands with bing

December 19, 2013 alec vanderboom

in just a few days, we will be hosting our annual white elephant party. and as usual, i've procrastinated and waited until now to start playing around with decor and menu ideas. thank goodness for bing and their new smart search feature. i usually go straight to trusty pinterest, but was surprised at how much more relevant the results were on bing and how quickly i could scan through them! this is what i ended up using (above), but read on to see how i came up with these 3 fabulous ideas!

not only does it search the internet, one search brings you information from across your device, the cloud, apps, and the web. visual results designed specifically for touch make it easy to find what you need. there’s no need to even open a browser, all you have to do is swipe and tap to start searching. oh, and the fact that i can see the webpage preview before i actually click over saved my sanity, and maybe my computer screen. i love sharing things i find with you here, but when the image link doesn't go through to the original source it drives me insane! which then means i give up and don't share those beautiful images with you. i highly recommend you take a look at the new bing smart search right here! the quick video taught me everything i needed to know.

so, onto the party decor. with only a few days to prepare, and knowing what my fave type of decor is for any party, i quickly typed in 'simple holiday garlands' to find a bit of inspiration. here are a few of my faves.

[01. a merry mishap 02. green wedding shoes 03. cupcakes & cutlery 04. 100 layer cake 05. simple days 06. ruffles & stuff 07 julie carroll]

i always feel like garland gives you the biggest bang for your buck. so when in a pinch (both financially and time wise) it is my go to. i decided to go with a mix of a few to create a unique look out of all of these fantastic projects.

here's how to make your own!

i went with a few that i had supplies for in the house. i also knew i wanted a little bit of rustic mixed in with clean white and a dash of natural elements.

for the rope and lights garland. simply wrap the rope around a string of twinkle lights. after i knew i had enough garland, i cut the rope and left the rest of the lights to dance around on the table in between glasses and bottles.

the branch garland was so simple. i grabbed some twine and tied branches in various lengths and sizes down the length of string. that's it! i ended up hanging this over a doorway as the bar area was getting a bit overwhelming with all 3 garlands.

and the last, most complicated, but still really simple, garland was the twisted yarn.

cut 6 strands of yarn double the length you want your finished garland and tie together at one end. attach one end of the tied strands to something stable, like a doorknob or handle. pull the yarn tightly from the other end and twist. once it is pretty tight, bring both of the ends together and they should begin to twist. tie ends to secure. now hang!

when hanging light seasonal items or party decor, i always use tiny pins (typically for sewing). they don't make a huge hole and you can barely see where they were when you remove them.

i placed mine over where our bar will be on saturday. now all i need is a giant chalkboard bar menu and it will be complete. i will share that next week!

and my take away after trying out the new bing smart search? besides loving it and switching to it for unique image searches from now on, i found several new blogs that i'll be reading over the holidays, i am not going to go crazy by accidentally closing my search because bing opens everything in a new window (i know this is small, but how annoying is it when you've scrolled down for 15 minutes only to close the tab!?), and i'm pretty excited to use it for planning upcoming road trips and vacations. the amount of information that bing smart search brings up is kind of ridiculous. in a good way;)

so. have you tried it out? i'd love to hear what you think or how it helped you find new inspiration for projects.

i'll be sharing my findings for the menu as well, so check back next week to see how i decided to display our party food and drink selections!

i want to thank bing for sponsoring this post and inspiring me to step out of the box and find new diy ideas for our party! as always, opinions and ideas are my own.