How to Make Toy Story Ribbon Garland

My sister originally asked for Woody themed garland for my nephew’s Toy Story party. Knowing she loves Buzz, I made both kinds. I focused on their color schemes and then looked around the fabric store. 

This post contains affiliate links.

I just love how these turned out!  They are so much fun and provide such a great pop of color.  Because they are so easy to move and use, we were able to put them all over the party area for some extra color and decoration.  For the Woody garland, I stuck with the classic colors of yellow and blue plus a red bandana and cow print.  I think the prints add so much character, I really love this one!

For the Buzz garland, I chose more simple fabrics since Buzz is more clean cut (no patterns). If you can find some fabrics with some glitter sparkle, great!  Otherwise plain colors work just as well.

Find more Toy Story posts here!

Materials for Woody Garland:

• 1/4 yard of cow print cotton fabric (8 inches by 18 inches, which gives you 12 strips each 8 inches long)
• 1/4 yard of yellow cotton fabric (8 inches by 18 inches, which gives you 12 strips each 8 inches long)
• 1/4 yard of blue cotton fabric (8 inches by 18 inches, which gives you 12 strips each 8 inches long)
• 1 red bandana (this bandana is 22 by 22 inches which will be more than enough for the garland)
• Scissors
• 6+ feet of cord (or something similar to hang)

Materials for Buzz Garland:

• 1/4 yard of grey cotton fabric (8 inches by 18 inches, which gives you 12 strips each 8 inches long)
• 1/4 yard of sparkle purple cotton fabric (8 inches by 18 inches, which gives you 12 strips each 8 inches long)
• 1/4 yard of sparkle lime green cotton fabric (8 inches by 18 inches, which gives you 12 strips each 8 inches long)
• Scissors
• 6+ feet of cord (or something similar to hang)

You can also find the fabrics at your local crafting store, or even substitute some of the fabrics for plain colored bandanas.

 

Instructions:

To make the garland, I got a quarter yard of each fabric and ironed them out to get rid of any creases. Then, I cut them into 1.5 inch wide strips. For the length, I made them a little longer since they would get shorter when tying them on the cord. Choose a length the works for you, but my strips were 8 inches long.

I used a normal white cord that I got at the craft store. The length that you cut your cord will vary based on where you are going to hang them. For me, I measured out the area of each hanging spot and cut. My four garlands had an average of 6 feet of cord, with 4 feet of ribbon (1 foot of cord left on each side for adjusting and hanging). 

At first, I tried tying the strips into a single knot, but I didn’t like how they looked. Instead, I cut a small horizontal slit into the strips. I wrapped the strip under and over the cord, then through the slit, then pulled slightly tight (think of how a normal necktie looks). I didn’t pull the strips completely tight as then they would be more difficult to position. I picked a pattern of the strips that I liked to alternate the different fabrics and made an average of 4 feet long of ribbon. 

*If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also hem your strips or use Fray Check (or similar fraying liquid).