Nut Garland

In our family it is a tradition to have baskets of nuts available for guests to enjoy. Truth be told, I never really liked eating the nuts, but cracking them was a whole other story! Lucky for me, I had a very loving grandfather who would eat whatever nuts I would crack open, so I have fond memories that involve mixed nuts and the holidays. 

Nowadays, while I don't like to eat the nuts, I still like to incorporate them into my holiday decorations! So the other day, I whipped up this Nut Garland.

  
The whole project was really simple! I started with a bunch of nuts I picked up at my local grocery. These particular nuts (walnuts, almonds and filberts) are sold by the pound, so they're pretty inexpensive!

Then I grabbed my drill, a cheap cutting board* I got at the Dollar Store, and I got to work. This probably wasn't the safest way to do it, but I held a nut in one hand, and using the drill in my other hand, drilled a hole through each nut. I used the drill on top of the cheap-o cutting board since I didn't want to drill too far and gouge my counter top. 
 *Most people would probably have a piece of scrap wood in the garage they could use instead, but since I live in a tiny NYC apartment and don't have a stash of scrap wood lying around, I ruined a very inexpensive cutting board!

After a lot of drilling, a few split nuts, and a couple thumb scrapes (thanks to a slip of the drill), all of my nuts were hole-y!

So I grabbed a tapestry needle, some brown embroidery floss, and strung the nuts!

See? I must admit, when I first envisioned this project I had planned to string the nuts and then lay them amongst the candles on the table in a wintry centerpiece: I thought the winding line of nuts would look really cool and would be way easier to deal with than a bowl full of loose nuts piled all over the place. However, once the nuts were on the string I became a little obsessed with hanging the nuts somewhere!

 

So I decided to leave a few inches of floss at each end of the garland and I tied a simple loop in each end since I thought it might make it easier to hang/use in the future.

This garland can be used for anything, really! Ultimately, I'm going to try winding mine around a mini Christmas tree. However, like any good crafter, I finished my garland before I managed to purchase said Christmas tree, so for the moment the nuts are hanging from some sconces to keep them untangled. Don't worry, this is only a temporary solution... I think...

All in all, I'm pleased to say that this is a really simple and inexpensive project that adds a bit of family tradition to my holiday in a new way- I can't wait to add them to my tree!

NUT GARLAND SUPPLY LIST
Nuts
Drill
Drill bit
Needle
Embroidery floss
Scissors