Easy DIY Thanksgiving Garland Ideas and Decorations

Enjoy simple decorations for the fall season with easy Thanksgiving garland ideas and other decorations. Your Thanksgiving decor can be quick, easy, and beautiful for a stress-free Thanksgiving holiday! Plus, it’s Thrifting with the Gals day, so keep reading for other simple decor tips and ideas for fall home decor!

Thanksgiving can sometimes feel like the middle child, sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, right in the middle of an incredibly busy time of year for almost everyone! However, it is a beautiful holiday and I often get requests for ideas for Thanksgiving decor. Today, I’m sharing a really easy DIY Thanksgiving garland decorations and ideas that you can either make or purchase. Plus, I’ll show you how I styled them so you can make your decorating even easier!

Most of us probably focus the most on Thanksgiving table decor. However, what I love about each of the ideas I’m going to share in this post is that you can use them in a variety of places and different ways.

Turn a simple Thanksgiving garland into an easy centerpiece for the dinner table or a focal point for gathering around the fireplace mantel. You can even string them across a front door, on a porch, or add to a wall or buffet for a quick Thanksgiving decor addition. I even took one of them and twisted into an easy Thanksgiving wreath too!

There is certainly enough to do with preparing Thanksgiving dinner, getting ready for guests, and trying to enjoy the season of gratefulness without adding stressful seasonal decor, right?!

Holiday banners and garlands can add a festive touch while being super quick and easy to style. Keep reading for a few favorites, including a really easy DIY with natural materials and autumnal colors!

Thrifting with the Gals

First, though, let me introduce you to my Thrifting With the Gals friends! We join together once a month to share our thrifted and vintage finds, home decor tips, and even easy DIY ideas. We also host a guest each month and it is so fun to see everyone’s ideas.

Rachel from The Pond’s Farmhouse
Ann from Dabbling and Decorating
Kristin from White Arrows Home
And our guest host, Joanna from Joanna Anastasia

Today, of course, is full of seasonal inspiration! I will share each of their ideas and links at the end of this post for your convenience, too. I guarantee that you’ll love them all!

Easy DIY Thanksgiving Garland Ideas and Decorations

How to decorate your room for Thanksgiving?

Mixing the Old and the New

No matter the season, mixing a few new pieces with your vintage home decor can be a budget-friendly and effective way to create a festive feeling. Whether seasonal decor is thrifted, found in an after-season clearance sale, or even picked from the produce section at the grocery store, it doesn’t have to break the bank!

Most of my own home decor is vintage and thrifted from flea markets, vintage markets, antique malls, and even yard sales. When it comes to making it festive and cozy for Thanksgiving, these budget-friendly beautiful garland ideas are perfect to mix into almost any style of home decor.

DIY Thanksgiving Garland Ideas

How do you make a thankful garland?

A flea market or produce stand is going to be your best friend for this simple DIY garland. My favorite thing about it is that it uses natural materials, soft fall colors, and blends perfectly into my natural and simple vintage-style Thanksgiving decor this year! I already had everything on hand, leftover from other things, so this little DIY ended up not costing me any extra. However, if you want to create one, I’ll link the materials below.

Here’s what you need for this easy DIY Thanksgiving Decorations Garland Idea:

How to make this easy DIY Thanksgiving decorations garland Idea:

First, measure the space where you want to hang this garland. I chose my fireplace mantel since the corn husks and natural materials blend so beautifully with my decor.

Secondly, space out the Indian corn. I didn’t worry about making it look too precise. Since I was going for more of a primitive look, a little irregularity actually worked perfectly.

Next, I tied my Indian corn onto the jute twine. Actually, I wrapped most of the pieces so I could slide them around on the twine. However, a couple of them fell when I was hanging it up. Lesson learned: if you want to make sure they are super secure for the long haul, tie them instead!

Finally, I cut a piece of velvet ribbon and tied a simple knot around each piece of Indian corn. A bow would be pretty also. However, I wanted a more simple look, so I used a simple knot. The fringed velvet ribbon adds a beautiful touch while still pairing nicely with the primitive style.

Tip: Another diy Thanksgiving decorations idea is to use extra husks and wire them together. Then, tie them to a ribbon or twine for a beautiful Thanksgiving garland to enjoy for the holiday season. The neutral tones will go with any Thanksgiving theme!

I did not actually make my corn husk garland as I purchased it from a market vendor. However, it would be simple to make if you have extra husks and a little time!

Easy Thanksgiving Garland and Decoration Ideas with Greenery

How to decorate for Thanksgiving Day?

There is something about the fall and Thanksgiving seasons that make me want to really focus on using natural materials and taking my cues from nature. Even though dried elements are most common for Thanksgiving decorating, I do love using greenery also. Since pine, cedar, and evergreen are what is still green out in nature by the end of November, those are the greenery elements I like to use.

Tip: Getting some of your winter greenery fluffed to use at Thanksgiving is a great way to easily transition into Christmas decor too!

My favorite way to use greenery for Thanksgiving is on my table setting or fireplace mantel. Often, I’ll add some to both places for Thanksgiving decorating.

Sometimes, I go ahead and put winter greens around the door frame and other places too. Then, I can just leave them up for Christmas! Mixed with Thanksgiving accessories, they add a very cozy and warm feeling to our home and I enjoy that so much!

Magnolia leaves are also beautiful to mix in with the winter greenery. My Thanksgiving wreath for my door is made with magnolia leaves and I love the different colors for fall. Besides wreaths, you could also take pretty magnolia leaves and tuck them into greenery or floral arrangements on a centerpiece too.

Tip: Layer different greenery elements for a more full look on your dinner table in the dining room. Since the theme of Thanksgiving is gratefulness and abundance, a really full look is perfect!

These are my favorite winter greens and garlands to use in my Thanksgiving decorating:

Realistic norfolk pine garland (THIS is my favorite and I also love THIS one for layering.)
Real touch eucalyptus garland (THIS looks perfect mixed with the norfolk pine.)
Beautiful magnolia leaves
Faux cedar stems (THESE are small bunches that are easy to work with and tuck in and around vignettes.)

Easy Thanksgiving Garland and Decoration Ideas with Pumpkins

Pumpkin decor and Thanksgiving just go hand in hand! I came across a couple of really pretty garlands using mini pumpkins.

THIS one uses string light and adorable grapevine wreath mini pumpkins. Some little berries add the bright oranges for the fall season. We used it for decoration for an event at school and it looked adorable! You could also add it to a greenery garland for a fun touch or even mix it into your dining table centerpiece!

THIS garland uses neutral tones with a lot of white and light tans. The mini pumpkins and leaf shapes mixed with pine cones makes for a beautiful autumn decor piece. I absolutely love how it looks on my mantel. It blends perfectly with the soft fall colors of my dried gourds.

At the same time, it would be a stunning centerpiece for your Thanksgiving dinner table too! Simply lay it down the middle of the table and mix in some pretty candlesticks. I especially love THESE vintage inspired brass deer candlesticks mixed with regular brass candlesticks! Of course, I love adding my flameless taper candles that work with a remote and have a timer. I added these realistic wax finish spiral candles this year!

An easy way to do a fun craft for a Thanksgiving activity would be to make your own pumpkin garland.

How to Make an Easy Pumpkin Garland

What can I use instead of garland?

To make a simple DIY Thanksgiving garland with pumpkins, simply take a pretty ribbon or twine. Purchase faux pumpkins HERE or from your local craft store or even dollar store. Then, use the hot glue gun to attach the faux pumpkin. For an extra touch of fall colors, add faux leaves or faux flowers, attached with a piece of floral wire.

Tip: Especially for the fall season, simple materials like ribbon, twine, and a hot glue gun can help you make many different kinds of DIY Thanksgiving decorations! You can even use free natural materials that you find outside or extra decorations you may already have on hand.

Other DIY Thanksgiving Decorations

Over on THIS post, you can find some really easy DIY place cards and decor ideas for place settings too.

I have free printables available, also, that are perfect for individualizing guests’ place settings for Thanksgiving dinner. You can find those HERE!

You can also shop my curated collections of Thanksgiving table decor essentials HERE and some of my favorite Thanksgiving decorations HERE!

As you are planning for the big day of celebrating with a delicious Thanksgiving meal, I hope your home and heart feel warm with remembrance of so many blessings and reasons to be thankful!

And I hope this post inspires a fun idea you can use to make your home special and inviting for the whole family this year at Thanksgiving!

You can find so many more decor ideas and thrifting fun from my Thrifting with the Gals friends today too! Check these out:

Ann at Dabbling and Decorating.