I have had Christmas tree envy in a BIG WAY this year. My favorite Christmas tree of all time, has always been at my parent’s house. It’s a like a pine-scented scrapbook, or a scratchy hug. There are ornaments that mark just about every birthday my sister and I have had, heirloom trinkets, family jokes, and lots of handmade ornaments made by many talented aunts, cousins, and of course, my awesome mom.
But one of the things that makes this tree so unique and special for me, are the strings of Scandinavian flags. The Scandinavian flag garland not only looks nice, but it makes me feel tied to all of my relatives, past and present.
I tend to exclusively claim Scandinavian heritage, but the fact is, that in addition to Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, I have quite a bit of Irish in me. So while the heritage flags seem to mostly be a Scandinavian thing, I decided to make some Irish flag garland this year to add to the rest of the family flags.
After examining my mother’s store-bought garland (above), I determined that all I needed to make garland was a spool of fishing line, a pack of Avery labels, and a color printer. I downloaded the online template that corresponds to the mailing labels I bought at my local office supply store, added bands of green and orange (after triple checking that that was the flag design of Ireland), and hit command P.
Next, I took the spool of fishing line, peeled a printed label off the page, and positioned the fishing line smack in the center of the label- then folded the sticky sides together.
Repeat, repeat, repeat until you have a string of garland to your desired length!
If you too happen to be Irish, and want to use this idea, go for it! You can download my Irish Flag template here. It works with the Avery address labels 8160.
Also- keep this decoration idea handy when St. Patty’s day rolls around and EVERYONE becomes Irish!
Happy holidays everyone!
How do you think of these things? I never would have thought to print them on labels and make mini flags that way?! You are super creative.
absolutely awesome and hey, i’m swedish, danish and lithuanian. ;).mamos’ maiden name is anderson.
Hey Sara! I was in a food-coma at my mom’s house, sitting in a chair staring at her dazzling tree and it just sorta clicked. Thanks for the nice words my girl! You are the best!
Jek! Thanks my dear! high five for similar backgrounds. Lets get together and make you some garland! xoxo (P.S. Did you know I was an AndersEn? before getting hitched?:)
Hi Megan, I just joined your Blog and was drawn to this project right away. It was quite clever of you to think of the labels, & i realize that your mother bought her flag garlands, but I wonder, do you think it would be possible to do them, also, on labels? Is there a geometric rule about the crosses on the flags? BTW ~ I also claim all four heritages, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, & Irish.