Accordion Fold Paper Garland Tutorial

Today I want to share a quick tutorial for creating this delightful accordion fold paper garland. It's simple to make and easy to coordinate with your party theme. I love bright neon colors for summer and used Ultra Brite Hue papers from JAM Paper & Envelope.

Materials

• brightly colored, 8.5" x 11" copy paper
• scissors or paper cutter
• ruler
• glue stick

Directions

Cut strips of paper that are 1 inch wide and 11 inches long.

Glue the ends of two contrasting paper strips together at right angles.

Fold the bottom strip over the top strip, making sure they remain perpendicular. Crease the fold. Continue criss-crossing bottom over the top, keeping the strips at right angles to each other.

When you reach the ends of the strips, leave a 1" overhang, trimming if necessary.

Glue another paper strip to each of the two ends, overlapping by 1 inch.

Continue folding and adding strips until the garland reaches the desired length. Glue the ends together...

... and it's ready to display.

They fold up quite nicely for storage. This is a 10 foot long garland! Wouldn't it be fun to include one of these garlands in a birthday party care package for someone who can't be home on their special day?

Alas, we don't have any birthdays to celebrate, but my girls were long overdue for some portraits and I used my garland to add a splash of color to the photo backdrop.

Disclosure:  The paper for this project was provided by JAM Paper & Envelope. I received no other compensation. All opinions expressed are my own.