Introduction
It was a few Christmases ago when my wife and I first draped a Christmas Garland over the mirror in our lounge and another over the mirror in the hall.
The garlands we bought were fashioned very much to our liking. They just looked like Christmas and became one of those purchases made without knowing exactly what we would do with them.
This post explains how to fix a garland to the top of a hanging mirror, or picture frame, so it remains in place over Christmas and can be reused the following year.
What Is A Christmas Garland?
This type of Christmas Garland is usually made of preserved or artificial Christmas tree twigs, holly, cones and berries bound to a wire. They are often enhanced with a little gold paint on the cones, and some white paint or powder on the leaves and berries to remind us all that it can snow at Christmas.
Fixing A Garland To A Hanging Mirror
We have an oak framed mirror hanging on the chimney breast. It has a broad strip of oak atop the frame which makes a good ledge for resting items on. We hoped to just ledge and drape this garland on it but gravity kept getting the better of it. So I produced a method of fixing it described here.
My technique for holding a garland on the top edge of a hanging mirror or picture is:
- I staple it to a narrow strip of wood which is as long as the picture frame is wide. For this I use cabling staples which are round. They are the sort that would hold TV coax cable to a skirting board or door frame.
- The strip of wood rests atop the picture frame but doesn’t fall off due to two thin strips of board attached to it which slide down between the back of the mirror or picture and the wall.
In the absence of cabling staples try ordinary flat staples. Alternatively cut notches around 3 sides (front, back and bottom) of the wood with a saw at 150mm intervals. Then wrap wire around the wood (in the cut grooves) and garland and twist it tight to bind the garland to the wood.
In all cases try and arrange the garland to cover the staples or wire.
In my case the strips of wood placed along the tops of the mirrors are 2cm wide and 1.5cm thick. The strips of hardboard are 4.5cm wide and 20 to 30cm long. When you’re a woodworker you tend to have scraps like this lying around almost cut to size so little work has to be done.
The hardboard has been fixed to the long strips of wood using 14mm long staples fired from a staple gun. I didn’t add any wood adhesive but I might next time I make one, just to strengthen the frame.
I’ve noticed that the staples leave metallic marks on the emulsion paint on the walls so I have covered them with transparent adhesive tape now.
Many hanging mirrors and pictures have a slight gap between the frame and the wall at the top. If not it isn’t usually too difficult to pull then away slightly to get the strips of hardboard to slide down the back. The weight of the mirror/picture pressing against the wall then holds the garland frame in place. The user may have to arrange the garland, according to its complexity, to cover the frame wood with its fronds.
In the picture above the garland frame is resting on a cardboard box temporarily to keep it raised while it’s photographed.
The garland can be seen in its final resting place below.
Putting Garlands Away After Christmas
At the end of the Christmas period I wrap the garland and frame with two black plastic refuse sacks. A sack is put over one end and then the other sack is put over the other end and the open end of the first sack.
Please take a look at another woodwork project showing a method of fixing a bed headboard to a wall instead of a bed.
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