How to Hang Christmas Garland on Stairs| Easy & Beautiful

Hanging Christmas garland on the stairs is easy and adds so much Christmas magic, which is why it’s one of the first things I decorated!

Is it me or does a staircase decorated with garland have such a magical effect?

There is just something classic and simple about a banister with Christmas garland draped on it.

We don’t have a long banister on our stairs, but we have one.

So I have to drape it with garland to usher in the Christmas season.

Last year one of the first things I did was a DIY Christmas wreath and some evergreen swags.

Basically, anything with greenery is first on my Christmas list when it comes to decorating.

Although with that said, I have been working on some new Christmas ornaments since SEPTEMBER!

Not because they take that long to make, they are actually quite easy.

But I needed to get some help from all the different family members to help make these ornaments extra special and sentimental.

I’m almost finished and I can’t wait to show them to you!

Our family Christmas tree is going to look a little different from last year, but it will be just as special!

HOW DO YOU ATTACH CHRISTMAS GARLAND TO STAIR RAILING?

There are a few different ways to attach your Christmas garland to your stair railing, but the easiest and thriftiest way to hang your garland is with plastic green garden twist ties.

Although regular floral wire should work I decided to go with this thicker plastic-covered wire.

You can find it in the garden center at your local home improvement store.

I like this option because it has a plastic coating on it which doesn’t scratch the banister like regular wire could.

But I also like it because it’s so easy to work with, and cheap!

I bought mine years ago and I just keep reusing the same little bits over and over again.

I think I’ve been using these specific twist ties for about 5 Christmas’s now.

Every year when Christmas is over, I take the garland and the green twist-ties off the banister and throw them in the same tote.

You can purchase those decorative garland ties which would do the same thing.

But the other benefit to the green twist ties is that they are small and easy to hide.

I don’t use these in the garden, but totally support using them on the banister at Christmas time haha!

HOW DO YOU MAKE A CHRISTMAS GARLAND FOR STAIRCASE?

Christmas garland that looks full, effortless, and beautiful is actually much easier than I ever imagined!

It happened by accident, but I’m all about those happy accidents!

I’ll share all the detail of my happy accident in another post, but the basic principle is that I took 2 pieces of garland and put them together to make it look thicker.

Once the garland was attached to the banister and I didn’t have to worry about knocking things down, I added Christmas ribbon and ornaments.

The best part about decorating your staircase with a garland like this is that you can change it every year.

If this year you want classic and next year you want rustic the garland foundation remains the same.

It’s just a matter of burlap vs satin ribbon and natural ornaments vs mercury glass ornaments.

HOW DO YOU HANG CHRISTMAS GARLAND ON THE STAIRS?

STEP 1.

Measure the length of the banister that you need to cover with garland.

My banister is 110” (a little over 9′) from the top to the floor.

So I used 2 (technically 4 because I doubled them up) sections of 6′ garland to account for the swoops.

STEP 2.

I started at the top of the banister because I would rather the garland excess or lack thereof to happen on the floor, not at the top of the stair rail.

I used the green twist ties I talked about earlier and attached the first 6′ section to the top.

I’ll admit this would be 100% easier with a helper, which is why my daughter came to help me.

Would it be possible without a helper, yes.

Just drape the garland over your shoulders to hold the weight up.

STEP 3.

I have 10 spindles so I decided I wanted my garland to swoop from the top of the stairs to the 5th spindle and then again from the 5th spindle to the baluster.

HINT: The green twist ties will slide down the handrail until the spindle stops it. I attached the green twist-tie such that it was resting against the spindle from the beginning so there was no sliding.

STEP 4.

Next, I attached the second 6′ section of garland to the first section of garland.

I simply attached the two sections by twisting one strand of greenery from the first section to the second section and vis versa.

You could also use floral wire, but I’m cheap and this was easier.

Not to mention I left my floral wire upstairs and I didn’t feel like walking upstairs to get it haha!

Does anyone else do things like that, or just me?!

Now that there was enough garland to finish the job I did another swoop with the garland and attached it at the top of the baluster, just below the round knob at the top.

STEP 5.

Now that the garland was attached I took some red ribbon and wrapped it over top of the green twist-ties and tied it in a bow.

You wouldn’t have to do this.

If you prefer you could just tie a bow and place an ornament hook through the back and attach it to the front of the garland.

But with my girls and dogs, I wanted to give the garland a little extra support.

This is why I wrapped it around the banister over top of the green twist-tie.

Between you and me I can absolutely see someone trying to swing from this garland like George of the jungle haha!

STEP 6.

Now it’s time to fluff and add your themed decor for the year!

My Christmas Time Promise

I hope you found some helpful tips and tricks for hanging your garland on the stairs.

I want it to look beautiful, but be cheap and easy to recreate.

My theme for Christmas this year is all about being present with my family and cherishing the short time that I have with them during this stage of life.

It’s super messy and chaos abounds.

But, the mess and chaos are worth the memories that we’ll get to keep when these days are over.

My husband and I were sitting in the finished living space down in the basement the other day, and he said

I love the way you’ve decorated this space for Christmas this year. I know because of the blog you’re going to change it every year, but I just remember going to my grandparents’ house and it was always decorated the same. It was comforting that way.

Sometimes I can overthink things, and when I look back I realize that in an effort to make something grand I forgot about the special that’s found in the ordinary.

• Baking sugar cookies
• Snuggling on the couch and reading our favorite books
• Running my fingers through my daughters hair as they drift off to sleep
• Playing a family board game

When I share my basement with you this year, remember it.

So you can hold me accountable to make Christmas magical and comforting for my husband for the years to come 🙂

Pin for Later!

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Have a great week! XoXo

Open Your Doors,
Aliya

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