HOLIDAY: Vinyl & Chenille 'Paper' Chains

I'm not really a 'trend' girl, but when something grabs the collective attention, I notice it.

Like the release of Taylor Swift's 'Life of a Showgirl' album, which hatched four fun sparkly pumpkins for my fall blog series. The deep-hued color palette and classic elements included in the 'new' holiday look dubbed 'Ralph Lauren Christmas' is just a new name, not a new style. And the recent selection of a white hue for the color of the year 2026 and the responses to it are most certainly trending right now - and oh, I DO have thoughts, but I'll keep those over on Instagram to spare you from my disappointment.

There IS one current trend that I can get on board with...
As a creator of seasonal decor using primarily re-purposed, re-used, and sustainable materials, the fervor over paper chains this season is giving me LIFE!

I love seeing all of the ways that people everywhere are creating them and using them in their holiday decor - and many have expressed that they'll be keeping them up well after the new year, too. I'm all in on that idea! (And I may just make MORE to add to my studio!)

I whipped up two different 'chains' that fit my current Mid-Mod inspired theme, just for my own enjoyment... but once I hung them on my studio wall, I decided to include a blog post about them. It's not like you need a tutorial to tell you how to make them - most of us have been doing that since kindergarten. I just thought I'd remind you that you can use just about anything to create them - including vinyl placemats!

The inspiration from mid-century modern style comes from my memories, as well as documented trends and styles from that period. So incorporating a childhood (mine was in the mid-sixties through the 70's) craft in this holiday series just feels right... and I even included a special little touch that my Mom used to add to my paper chains way back when!

Continue reading for all the details...

dwk

I'll be sharing two easy tutorials for making both the 'paper' chain (using vinyl placemats) and the pipe cleaner chain.

Paper Chain made with vinyl placemat strips

Materials:

Vinyl placemats - to be cut into strips
(Two placemats created a 6' length of chain)

ruler . scissors . colored pencil . stapler

Method:

1. My sturdy metal ruler is exactly one inch wide and makes the perfect size strips for this project. I laid them out width-wise on the vinyl placemats to maximize how many I could get. (I could also have run them length-wise for longer strips, then cut them in half for different sized loops).

Mark out your strips on the BACK side of the placemat, using a colored pencil - they don't smudge and ruin the look like lead pencils do!

2. Cut the strips out slowly, keeping the scissors on the traced lines.

3. Separate the strips by color - the green leaf-print vinyl placemats I'm using have a solid white back, so I'll be using those as two 'colors' in the chain. You can mix in more colors if you wish!

4. Bend one strip into a circle, overlapping the ends where they meet up. 
Staple the loop closed by placing two staples on each side of the joint of the strips as shown. Add the next loop, making sure it is the alternate color from your first loop - mine has the green vinyl facing outward and the white side of the vinyl facing outward in a repeating pattern.

5. + 6. Close-up of the staple placement.

Continue adding loops until you get the length you want. 

Now let me show you the lil' 'extra' that my Mom used to add:

Mom would hang my paper chains in the windows, then add small lightweight ornament balls INSIDE some of the loops! Here's how:

Materials:
small ornaments . pipe cleaners (match the ornament color) . scissors

Method:

1. Cut a pipe cleaner into four sections. Tuck one section into the hanging loop on an ornament and bend it in half upwards.

2. Twist both parts of the pipe cleaner around each other to thicken it, pointing upward.

3. Slide the pipe cleaner into the space between the staples at the loop's joint, leaving less than 1/3 of the pipe cleaner showing at the top of the ornament.

4. Bend the pipe cleaner downward so the ornament hangs in the center of the loop.

Hang your paper chains, then adjust each loop that has a ball in it so the stapled joint faces upward - that will help the ornament balls hang correctly.


Chenille Stem / Pipe Cleaner Chain

Materials:
chenille stems / pipe cleaners - in at least two colors . scissors

1. Cut pipe cleaners in half, and separate by color.

2. Bend the first piece into a loop and twist both ends of the stem together where they meet up.

3. Repeat the process with the second color pipe cleaner, running it through the first loop as you bend it into a circle.

Continue until your chain is as long as you wish!

TIP: You can also bend pipe cleaner sections around tiny metal cookie cutters to get shapes like bells, stars, and holly leaves, making chains out of shapes!

  
I love the combination of loopy 'paper' (vinyl) chains, sparkly pipe cleaner chains, white mini lights, a handful of white plastic fir foliage, and three green glass globes suspended from ribbon. 

It's not a huge amount of anything and took just minutes to arrange - but together they bring this wall in my studio to life and make me smile. That's my idea of what our decor should do for us every season, and especially at the holidays!

Are you making and using paper chains in your holiday decor this year?
I'd love to see! Leave me a comment with a link to your blog or social media posts!


Related Content:

'Merry Mantel' decor with paint chip paper chains - 2020 

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