Sparkly Paper Chain

I couldn’t help myself.  I started to decorate for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving.

I KNOW – I know.

I didn’t do everything, but I did get a little nostalgic.  Did you make paper chains as a child?  I think I made construction paper chains for every single holiday through the years when I was a child.  It was my go-to craft.  But they looked very … homemade.  And that’s all well and good when you’re a little kid, but I thought it would be fun to make a childhood favorite look a little more grown up.  Introducing my sparkly paper chain:

I was actually reminded about my love of paper chains while I was watching “The Holiday ” (affiliate link) the other night (our tradition for the last few years).  I have tried to find a picture of it online, but I can’t find it anywhere.  In the one scene at Jude Law’s house, he has adorable paper chains made by his daughters strung in front of his bookshelf.  It looked so charming, and I knew I wanted to make some in the near future!

I went to Michaels and got some sparkly paper.  Here’s where I went wrong – I bought corrugated paper because it was on sale.  Darn me and my desire to save a buck – sometimes it isn’t always the best.

The corrugated paper snapped while I tried to bend it, so I had to “mold” each piece gently into a circular shape.  Arg.  My nostalgia quickly turned into frustration.  But I was still able to make a glorious sparkly paper chain, and even if it took me way too long, I still love looking at it.

The key to making them look more sophisticated and less homemade: use thicker paper (but NOT corrugated), and make the links smaller.  I made mine so a stapler could just fit inside of each link, but no bigger.

It’s actually hanging on my mom’s mantel.  Funny – I made paper chains for her house over 20 years ago and I’m still making them today.  Here’s a side of the mantel with the paper chains hanging:

 The other thing I love about this decoration?  It can be used easily for Christmas AND New Years!

The full mantel reveal will be up Friday!  I can’t wait to show you!

Did anyone else have a love of paper chains as a child?  Would you revisit the love in your home this year with an sparkly paper chain?