This year for Halloween I decided to go with a Nightmare Before Christmas theme for the exterior of my home. After searching on Etsy for wreaths and garlands I had found many great options, but they came with a hefty price tag. With help from some super crafty friends, I learned how to make the mesh garland. 
For the Jack faces, I bought small round wooden cutouts at Michaels craft store. First I started off painting them white. Once they were dry used a paint pen Sharpie to draw on their faces. For the larger Jack on my wreath, I used craft paint, but I really liked the results with the Sharpie even better. Once they were dry I hot glued pipe cleaner on the back of each one so they would be easy to attach later on in the process. 
Next, you will need a 9-foot work garland. I found mine at Hobby Lobby. It helps to lay it out flat on the floor so you can have a perfectly straight work surface. Straighten the wire as much as possible, as it comes folded from the store. Next take the tinsel-like arms and fold those out straight as well.
*Sidenote-please excuse the look of sheer determination above!
You will want to use a wide mesh ribbon for the next step as it will be your main base. The orange I used was 21 inches. Leave a little bit unrolled at the end to cover the bare wire. When you start, you will know what I mean by that as part of the wire sticks out before you get to the tinsel arms.
Next, you will roll it out using your tinsel arms as your measurement. Start at the first tinsel arms by gathering your ribbon side to side and wrapping the arms around it. From there roll past the next set of tinsel arms and stop after you get to the following set of arms, basically, skip a set of arms between each. This will give you the perfect measurement all the way down. once you have that measurement, again gather your ribbon from side to side and go back down to the tinsel arms you just skipped. Attach the ribbon by twisting the arms around it as you did the first one. Doing this is what gives you extra ribbon to create the poof. Continue this step all the way down. At the end again leave extra ribbon to cover the wire at the end. Cut off the remainder.
This shows you how the twists will look once your first layer is completed. There will be plenty of tinsel left over for other layers, just twist it as tight as possible to make sure you have space.
Next, I repeated the same steps above, except this time I used a 10-inch mesh ribbon and then a smaller green ribbon to allow the original one to show through from behind. I found some purple tubing at Dollar Tree and attached that to the tinsel the same way.
Once you have your ribbon base completed, it is time to add on extras. I did this by adding on top of the tinsel arms as it was the perfect spot to hot glue items. I purchased several packs of styrofoam balls at Dollar Tree. After covering them with Modpodge they were sprinkled with glitter. (A tip: before you start to paint on the Modpodge is to put the balls on skewer sticks . Then use a foam brush to paint on the glue, then sprinkle the glitter, and place them with their sticks in a cup or vase to dry. This really speeds up the drying process.)
I had purchased several different prints and colors of the wire trimmed ribbon. Short lengths of those were cut to attach to the tinsel ends as well. The Jack faces were hot glued on top of the ribbon.
My super crafty friend created this bow and we glued another Jack on top of that. I attached some floral picks and the bow with hot glue. For final touches, some glittery bones and spiders found at Michaels were attached.
The really fun part about this process is that you can add as little or as much as you would like in order to have it match your personal taste! I hope this shows you that the wire mesh garland is so easy to do on your own! Happy Halloween and happy crafting!
And as always if you have any questions feel free to comment or shoot me an email to channellingdolly@gmail.com.
That is way wicked cool!!!!
Thank you so much Intense!!! I appreciate that!!! So glad we got back in touch!
This is so darling! What a cute way to decorate, I just love it! Good work!
Thank you so much!!! I appreciate that!!
You are so creative! I love how pretty it turned out. I would love to copy this project.
Thank you so much!!! Feel free to copy!
That turned out AMAZING. I have been wanted to make a holiday wreath so this looks like the perfect tutorial.
Thank you Taylor! Try it out! You will be shocked at how simple it is really! It made me wonder why I took so long to try and make them! Let me know if you need any other tips!
This is literally the most perfect theme you could have. I love the Nightmare Before Christmas and you have got the essence down to a T.
Thank you Ana! Luckily Jack is very easy to draw, so that really helped out!
I love the look of this! It doesn’t look to hard to make. I have a trip planned to Hob Lob, I’ll check out the materials!
Thank you Kim!! It really was so much easier than I had expected it to be! I found the most important part was the selection of ribbons, as that is what will be the main focus. Send me a pic if you decide to try one out and don’t hesitate to ask if you need help!
That is seriously the most fun garland I have seen ever. I hope you do one for Christmas, as I need some ideas!
Thank you so much Terri! I plan on making one for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so make sure to check back!
Oh my goodness! This is the nicest Halloween decorations I have ever seen. Those smiley faces are so cute!
Thank you so much Veronica!
That’s your first attempt?? Wow!! You did such an incredible job!! It looks absolutely amazing!!
Thank you Amanda!! It was my first attempt. It won’t be my last now that I know how easy it is! I have plans to make them for all the holidays now! 🙂
Girl, I’m impressed you tackled a DIY! I am ok with DIY if its pretty simple! You have got major motivation! Love how it all turned out! Super glammy!
Thank you so much Karen!!! It really was very fun to make! You could so do one!
That is amazing. I love how you combined the textures of the mesh with a variety of different colors. Very nice.
Thank you so much Jill!
I love this theme! One of my favs. This is a super easy and cute DIY!
Thank you Kristie!!!!
Wow this turned out so pretty! I love the colors and the skeletons are a nice touch!
Thank you so much!!
For your first time you did an amazing job. This is overly creative and just a superb job!!
Thank you so much!!!
I love that you have a theme! I have never really decorated for Halloween, but as my kids have gotten older they are starting to request it.
Thank you Heather! It’s really fun to decorate for the holidays! I’ve gotten into stalking items and purchasing the day after the holiday so I can build up my seasonal decor without the high prices!
You did a fantastic job! I love Halloween and your decorations are perfect for it!
Thank you so much Dawn!
Hi, I am new to crafting. Love this decorating idea!
What is a 9 ft work garland? Do I use a 9 ft piece of wire and cut up a tinsel garland to make the arms? Not sure how to make the starter base you lay flat on the floor. Please explain.
Thanks, Pamela
Hi Pamela! Thank you so much! You could make your own using the method you are speaking of but you can also purchase a work garland. I found mine at Hobby Lobby. When it the package it is folded up smaller so it is easy to miss but if you go in store I am sure an employee could tell you exactly where they are. I have never found them at our local Michael’s but not sure if some locations have them. Also you can buy them online at Craft Outlet. http://www.craftoutlet.com/work-garland-red-9-ft?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm9vPBRCQARIsABAIQYdkZ-ttVLx0oymWnqE8Qf1hsWo7wp1TdXsi1IigiZIVEFVebB_SfW0aAmWREALw_wcB I hope this helps. If you need anymore info don’t hesitate to reach out!