i'm bound to thank you....a thanksgiving garland

i recently purchased an awesome buffet from a thrift store. i paid $68...a little more than i wanted to pay, but it really is lovely. a perfect fit for my living room.

and it's given me a whole new surface to decorate. *swoon...

anyway. my point is, i have this awesome mirror above the buffet. normally, i'd neglect it. i mean, i already have a mantel, several shelves...this house is most certainly not lacking for spaces to decorate. but had i neglected it,  i'd have been so wrong. tragically wrong. because, you see...for thanksgiving, i made this super cute, super easy garland to drape over it.  it is so freaking easy to make. i mean. ridiculously easy...

i'm pretty sure you'll all be begging me for a tutorial. because i'm certain no one can figure this out without me (*giggle) so here's a go at a tutorial. bear with me, friends. no judgements.

using a large circle punch, cut out  12 circles from cardstock, and then 6 from a book (i have one that i've designated for use on projects such as these). for the book, i found that i had to cut off the margins and then punch it out so that i could get a pretty, text-filled circle.

glue 6 book circles to 6 cardstock circles. then glue the chipboard letters onto the middle of the circles. (i used chipboard letters because they're easy, and relatively cheap--i had a coupon).  you want the book circles to have a firm foundation-that's why you're gluing them to cardstock.

take crepe paper (i found some brown crepe paper for .75 and didn't go through an entire roll), gather it together to create a ruffle. hot glue it to a circle of cardstock. do this 6 times (this is the longest part of the craft. i turned on an episode of a sisterwives (i know, i just can't stop watching...) and got it done.
measure out some twine (i had some on hand) and then sandwich the twine in between the crepe paper circle to the chipboard letter circle. the front should have the letter on it and the back should just show the white cardstock circle. (you can see this in the pic below).
here's a little closeup so you can see some of the details of the ruffling, the book, and the glittered letter...

i hid the ends of the twine with some chipboard, glittered leaves i got on sale at michaels (for another project...but decided they'd work for this one, too).

and there you have it.
a cute, cheap (less than $3) banner of awesomeness...i feel so thankful. or wait...the boss should be so thankful for me. i mean, talk about trophy craft...teehee...

things i've learned:
1. i'm not good at writing tutorials. it's my first attempt. sorry. i'll get better, promise!
2. the banner (because of all of the crepe paper) is pretty heavy. you really do have to have some thicker twin to make it work