The "Krone" Lower Austria column

The little messenger makes garlands

(Bild: Krone kreativ/Daniela Gaigg/canva)

How I conjure up decorative elements and garlands with the simplest of means just before Christmas. As a columnist, "Die kleine Botin" aka Daniela Gaigg writes about topics relating to life with the family. These include sustainability in everyday life, self-care and food for thought for parents.

I love garlands as decorations and right now, in the last few days before the festive season on December 24th and the holidays that follow, I'm making it a little more festive.

What I need for this is in the house anyway, so I can use the time when I'm waiting for the children or they just join in. Delicate fairy lights are very easy to hang and look beautiful.

Garlands made from twigs are also great - traditionally tied from branches of a fir tree or more delicately made from small branches of pine trees. When working with twigs, resinous sticky fingers and the typical smell is something that reminds me of my grandpa and visiting the winter forest with him!

Super simple and very pretty garlands can also be made from (yes, really) toilet paper rolls. To do this, I flatten the roll and cut it into rings about 1 cm wide. I then fold the rings in half again. I need 15 to 20 of these for a nice garland of one meter. I then thread the resulting "leaves" onto yarn using a pointed darning needle and add wooden beads in between. That's it! And it looks really beautiful!

This way, you can conjure up a few decorative elements and garlands with the simplest of means just before the Christmas holidays and enjoy the pre-Christmas season together.