Fall Wood Bead and Felt Ball Garland

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This week fall will officially be here, and I am so happy about it. I have been loving the fact that temperatures have been cooling off a little bit and it has been starting to look and feel more and more like fall. However, in my craft room it has been fall for a while. I have been making lots of fall craft projects lately, and todays project is a continuation of that, although it could easily be adapted to work for any season or holiday, just change up the colors.

Not long ago I was reorganizing some of my craft supplies and pulled out a box of wool roving that I haven't used for a while. There were a lot of different colors in the box but the number of reds, oranges, golds, and other colors that would work for fall really stood out to me. I immediately knew that I wanted to make a fall garland. 

I had a bunch of wood beads left over from a Christmas project I made last year, and I wanted to combine the wood beads with felted wool balls made from the wool roving to make a cute garland. I made the felted wool balls I used for my garland because I had wool, but you could do the same thing with with felt balls that you buy already made if you would rather, just skip the step of making the balls. 

You could easily do this in any colors for any season, holiday, or color scheme. It took a little bit of time to make all of the felted balls, but once they were ready it came together super fast. 

How to Make a Fall Wood Bead and Felt Ball Garland

You will need:

• Wool Roving (I used this wool roving, but they don't appear to have the exact same set, this set on Amazon is similar)
• or Premade Felt Balls
• Wood Beads 
• Crochet Thread, embroidery floss, or other sturdy thread
• Embroidery or Chenille Needle (large eye, sharp point)

Instructions:

How to Make Felted Wool Balls

If you choose to make your own felt balls with wool roving:

Start by cutting a length of wool, for the wool that I used I cut lengths about 3" long

Pull on the wool to slightly separate the fibers 

Get the wool wet with hot water and add a drop of liquid soap in the center, I used hand soap

Gently start to roll the wool between your palms 

As you roll the ball will get tighter and and smaller 

Rinse and/or add more soap as needed

When the ball is finished set it aside to dry

Make as many balls as you want for the garland you are making, I used 17 balls in a variety of colors (red, orange, gold, brown, green, and purple) for a garland that was just over 3 feet long

How to Make a Felt Ball and Wood Bead Garland

The first step is to determine how long you want your garland to be, how many balls and beads you will need, and if you want a pattern or a more random design. 

I made my garland just a little over 3 feet long. I went with a pattern of 3 beads, 1 ball, 3 beads, 1 ball... starting and ending with 3 beads. I used a total of 17 felt balls and 54 wood beads.

The wood beads I used had beads in 2 shapes (round and faceted) and 3 sizes of each. I used the small and medium size of each shape. 

Although I chose to use a pattern of the number of beads and balls, I went random with the sizes and shapes of the beads, as well as the color of the felt balls. I tried to include at least one of each shape in each trio of beads, but other than that there was really no rhyme or reason, just whatever I picked up next. 

Cut a piece of string a little longer than the size you want your garland to be

Thread the first bead onto the string and tie it on to secure it a few inches from the end

Thread the next beads and felt balls onto the thread  following the pattern, or random design, that you have chosen until all of the beads and balls threaded. 

Tie the thread around the last bead, like the first bead, to secure the end. 

Drape, wrap, or otherwise display your garland in whatever way you want.