This DIY fall burlap garland is sweet and ruffly —  you can add your own color scheme to fit any season or holiday! Painted orange polka dots were calling us this time around, but you could even leave it neutral to carry you from one fun season to the next seamlessly.

Level of difficulty: Easy
Hands on time: 1.5 hrs
Dry time: 12 hours

What you’ll need:

10 yards burlap ribbon (found in floral section of craft store)
Acrylic paint
Sponge stamp
Needle with large eye
Twine

Instructions:

1. Find somewhere to paint your burlap ribbon! We had the perfect length walkway in our backyard to unroll it and let it dry. You can also do it in sections if space is limited.

Pro Tip: Unless you want a polka dotted sidewalk or work surface (which we now know all about) we recommend putting something down underneath the burlap. Aluminum foil would be perfect — at least it would have been for us. We skipped this step and are now warming up to the orange polka dots in the backyard.

2. Using the sponge, stamp the paint circles about an inch a part in a zig zag pattern across the burlap ribbon. Let dry overnight and then re-roll the burlap ribbon into a spool.

3. Thread the twine through your needle and measure twine to about half as long as the burlap ribbon —about 5 yards in this case. Cut the twine and tie a large knot at the end.

4. Fold the end of the burlap ribbon over and thread the needle through. Continue with a 1-2″ stitch through the middle of the burlap ribbon, pulling it tight to create a ruffle. This straight stitch will create an accordion-like fold. If you want something even more ruffly, switch to a zig zag stitch. We started with a couple straight stitches, but then switched to the zig zag for the remainder of the garland and finished with a couple straight stitches at the end.

5. Once you get to the end of your ribbon (which is now a cute ruffly garland), tie a big knot. If you plan to hang it by the ends, you can leave some extra twine on the end. 

We put our garland on our favorite piece of furniture … the bar! It makes us happy, and so does everything on our bar. You can also place it across a mirror or on the bed frame (like below). Happy Fall!