Introduction: Pac-man Garland

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Finish off your tree with this fun, festive garland. A tribute to 1980s pop-culture, this simple decoration is a modern twist on the classic strung popcorn and paper-chains. With a few simple supplies, you can make this treasure in no time!

Step 1: Materials

For this project, I used:

  • Pompom fringe in two different sizes
  • Craft paint in blue, yellow, red, green, white
(yellow + red = orange / red + white = pink / blue + white + a little green = light teal)

  • Tacky glue (works better than standard white glue in this case)
  • Googly eyes
  • Needle and thread
  • Scissors
  • (not pictured) Black Sharpie

NOTE: I pose this as an alternative solution to my steps here:

Use colored pompoms sold in packets rather than while ball fringe. It will be less time- and material-consuming. The downside to this may be that they don't hold their shape as well. Once painted, the pompoms become quite firm and easier to work with.

If you try the alternative option, skip to step 3, and make sure to post pictures!!!!!!

Step 2: Paint Pompoms

Follow the same steps for each color:

  • Dilute paint in some water. The more paint, the stiffer the resulting pompom. The more water, the less deep the resulting color.
  • Soak LARGE pompoms in colored solutions. It won't take long for the pompom to absorb the color .
(small pompoms will be used as the white dots pac-man gobbles)

  • Let dry

Step 3: Shape Pompoms

Now it's time to make your characters!

  • Cut all pompoms away from fringe base
  • Cut slice in yellow pompoms for pac-man's mouth
  • Cut bottoms of other pompoms flat
  • With black marker, draw two triangles on flat side of pompom, front and back. Color in flat bottom
  • Glue on googly eyes

Step 4: Form Your Army!

Now you're ready to string it all together!

  • Arrange your characters so you have a clear idea of how many of each you have and how to best space them on your garland.
Or don't.

  • Cut a length of thread that's comfortable to deal with . Heavy duty thread works best for this, but regular thread is great if you double it up. A good place to start is with 12" of thread with a knot in the end.
  • String your characters on the thread, leaving space in between
  • To keep them from flipping around too much, I sewed through each of them twice
  • When you run out of thread, just start a new one, and pick up on the garland where you left off. This is much more efficient than trying to put them all on one really long string that will only get tangled and break your heart.

Step 5: Decorate Your Tree

Anywhere you decide to string these fellas is sure to draw attention.
Leave them up all year! Pac-man's not just for Christmas anymore!

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