Create this easy DIY Christmas garland with coffee filters (big or small) and liquid watercolors! Simple for kids to make and beautiful to display!
Updated November 2024
We recently did some coffee filter painting in Christmas colors, then used them to make a Christmas garland which we LOVE.
This art activity is so simple and yet makes such a lovely decoration that you’ll want to keep up, even after the holidays!
And you can even use different colors, if you’d like to make one for Hanukkah or Valentine’s Day!
DIY Christmas Garland
MATERIALS
- Coffee filters (we used these extra large ones but regular filters work just fine)
- Watercolor paint (we used liquid watercolors and found the metallic colors were especially nice on the garlands) You can also thin down tempera paint with water.
- Droppers or paint brushes
- Ribbon, baker’s twine or yarn
- Glue stick
Time needed: 20 minutes
INSTRUCTIONS
- Paint coffee filters
Be aware the liquid watercolors will bleed through so prepare your surface accordingly. We laid out a big piece of cardboard on top of our table.
Begin painting the coffee filters. You can painting stripes or dots, or just fill them with color.
- Continue painting
Decide how long you’d like your garland and be sure to paint enough coffee filters. We used a mix of big Texas snowflake filters and standard coffee filters.
We stuck with the red, green and gold paints palette. The metallic watercolors add a lot! - Let coffee filters dry
After painting, set aside the coffee filters to dry for a few hours. We left ours to dry on the cardboard overnight.
- String garland
After the painted coffee filters dried, we folded them in half and glued them over a ribbon.
- Hang garland
This festive holiday garland looks beautiful hanging anywhere in your home!
Here are the finished garlands, aren’t they beautiful?
String them on the wall, over doorframes or windows, or even decorate your Christmas tree with them!
More Christmas Decorations to Make
Want even more creative ideas?
Check out our Holiday Creativity pack!
Let’s celebrate the holidays with all things crafty! Here are 53 pages full of our favorite drawing prompts, creative play ideas, art activities, and more!
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