DIY Fabric Football Garland

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Are you a football fanatic or do you show up to the tailgate or watch party just for the snacks? Show your football spirit and make this easy and festive DIY Fabric Football Garland to hang above your snack table at your next football watch party!

When I was a kid my family really wasn’t into sports. Sure, us kids did the typical sports activities – baseball, soccer, gymnastics, dance – that most kids do; and we would go to a professional or minor league baseball game once or twice a summer, but my Dad isn’t really a sports guy. And truth be told, if it weren’t for some friends on the football team in high school, I would be completely and totally clueless about football.

Yup, it was in high school, when I truly realized just how big a role sports played in our culture and society. Determined not to be left behind and be clueless my entire life, I made it my mission to learn as much as I could about various sports, with football being the top on the list.

In my effort to “make up for lost time,” I’ve attended numerous sporting events, tailgates and watch parties, yet, even with my best efforts, I am far from a sports fanatic. Still, football remains one of my favorite sports, second only to baseball, and with each year that passes becomes more and more a part of our lives.

In fact, our occasional football game/tailgate and/or watch party has gone from just watching the big game (like most of America) at the end of the season, to a few games a year, with the past few years football becoming a part of our lives all season long!

Since this season’s big game is right around the corner, I thought I would share a tutorial for a fun and easy DIY Fabric Football Garland. I actually made this garland earlier this fall and loved it so much that I have been using it all season long to decorate my snack table when hosting “homegates” to even decorating my car at a tailgate!

In addition to being an ultra-easy decoration to spruce up your snack table or car, I love that this DIY Fabric Football Garland is in generic football colors and themes, so that I can use it at a variety of games; yet could easily be adapted to coordinate with the colors of your favorite team.

To get ready for the big game, recently I hosted some friends to watch a few playoff games. Since I love a good snack spread in addition to a high intensity football game, I ran to my local H.E.B. to pick up some simple and “better for us” snacks, like fruit and veggie trays, hummus and a Greek yogurt dip to serve with Snack Factory® Pretzel Crips® and Kettle Brand® Potato Chips, that are not only great for munching on while watching a game with friends, but we love having these types of snacks at home for when we get hungry and need a quick bite throughout the week.

Since I have loved using my DIY Fabric Football Garland all football season long, I thought I would finally share with you a step-by-step tutorial on how I made it, as well as a few pics of my garland proudly on display hanging above my festive football snack table. Check out the tutorial below and whip up this festive DIY Fabric Football Garland just in time to celebrate the big game!

DIY Fabric Football Garland
By Heather H. of Kitchen Concoctions: www.kitchen-concoctions.com

Supplies:
Green felt, ½ yard long
Tape measure or ruler
White and brown rectangle craft felt
Football cookie cutter
Pen
Fabric glue
White letter stickers
Hot glue gun and glue
Scissors
Twine
Assorted fabric scraps in green, brown, grey, yellow and black colors and patterns

Instructions:
To make felt pendant, cut a rectangle two feet by one foot out of the green felt. At the bottom of the rectangle cut at an angle approximately 3 inches into the center of the rectangle; repeat from the other side to form pendant shape. Set aside.

Trace the football cookie cutter onto the brown felt. Cut out the football shape. Cut three 1.5-2-inch by 1/4-inch and three 1/2-inch by 1/4-inch pieces of white felt to form threads on football. Using the fabric glue or glue gun, glue the white felt pieces onto the felt football to form threads, trimming away any excess felt.

Glue football onto the bottom center of the green felt pendant. Adhere fabric stickers onto the felt pendant, above and below the football, to form the phrase “go team”. (Note: Since felt does not handle an iron very well do not use iron on stickers). Set aside.

To make fabric garland, cut a piece of twine approximately 6-8 feet long.

Cut fabric scraps into approximately 20-inch by 2-inch pieces, cutting approximately 40 pieces of fabric. (Note: The fabric pieces don’t have to be cut perfectly and you want a little fraying.)

Tie the fabric scraps to the twine by folding each fabric scrap evenly in half one at a time to form a loop in the middle. Lay the twine over the loop and tuck the two ends of the fabric through the loop and pull tight.

Continue tying the assorted fabric pieces to the twine, pressing the knots close together and leaving approximately a one foot space in the center of the twine to add the felt pendant (approximately 20 fabric scraps on both sides).

Once all the fabric scraps have been tied to the twine, place felt pendent over the center of the garland and fold the top 3-4-inches of felt over the twine, gluing the excess felt to the back side of the pendant.

Using tacks or nails, hang garland above a football themed snack table and enjoy!

Stock up on Snack Factory® Pretzel Crips® and Kettle Brand® Potato Chips on the chip aisle at your local H.E.B. grocery store!