When I was 6 or 7, my mum and me took a whole day making Christmas paper chains. Mum cut strips from magazines and stuff. Then we stuck them together looped through each other to make our chains.
Paper chains made from junk mail are colourful and cheap!
It really was all day we did it, so we had a huge pile of chains at the end 🙂 When we hanged it up, it went all around our lounge room two times and dangled down beside the door on both sides too!
I loved that day with my mum. And we loved seeing those chains hanging up for weeks. So that’s my favourite Christmas memory.
It’s also my idea of what people can do with kids for fun in December 🙂
HI BJ – what a great memory! I can just imagine a huge pile of colourful paper being pulled out to be hung around the room. Have you made paper chains again since that Christmas?
I love this! We make these every year and the kids hang them in their rooms. Of course, we don’t only do this at Christmas. Making paper chains is a great idea for a bad weather day craft. It keeps the kids busy and entertained for quite some time.
That’s so true! Funny but I have never made paper chains except in the lead up to Christmas but there really is no reason not to do it at other times 🙂
I just came across this set of instructions to make fabric ‘paper chains’ – and they can be used as a count down tot eh big day 🙂 Kids would probably love doing this as a count down to their birthday too!
Memories like that are forever, aren’t they? Moms are the best. We used to do the same with crepe paper in all colours possible and hang them all over the place. I remember my mom telling us not hang them too close to the ceiling fans.
Crepe paper… celing fans… no paper chains 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crepe paper chain – I’ve always used stiffer paper to hold the shape.
I love doing paper chains. My son and I start making them at thanksgiving and we decorate or entire home with them. We use construction paper and we also use coloring sheets that we have colored. It is fun and yes, it creates some great memories.
I remember making paper chains as a young girl. They were one of my favorite Christmas decorations to make. I just thought it was a shame that they couldn’t really be preserved from year to year. But, then, they are fun to make each Christmas. I think for this Christmas, I will string them across my mantle, using foil and bright paper.
I know what you mean – I hate throwing them out each year, too Clauzeta 🙂
Of course, most of them would be squished and less attractive after a10 months in a cupboard or box somewhere, but still…
Foil and bright paper chains sound really nice, too – have fun making them 🙂
What a nice story BJ. And I want to check out those fabric ones, Santa’s Elf.
We made some paper chains this Christmas but it barely stretched the length of the family room – might have to start earlier next year and have lots around the house…
I’ve done the paper chain tradition as well. However, mine was a bit different. We would put 25 rings to the chain and take one off a day at a time. Taking down the very last one was a sign that Christmas morning had come.
I love that idea, sorrowscal! Sort of an advent paper chain – I think I may try that this year.
If you do, the last thing doesn’t always have to be the last chain. One year, we cut out some yellow and red crafting paper to make a paper Christmas bell that worked as our last ‘link’ in the chain. However, we’ve only done this once. There was some fuss the next year over what to do and we’ve ultimately just kept to complete chains since then.
It’s always nice to vary traditions a little – then you know if the original tradition was the best idea to start with!
We used to do this as well, as popcorn garland tended to fall apart the second you hung it on the wall. We would always get construction paper in green and red and make tiny rings to decorate the entire border of our living room and dining room. It always looked so festive, and the homemade quality added to the homey Christmas feel in the house! 😆
I’ve never tried the popcorn strings – it still seems strange to me!
The paper chains do look festive – I enjoyed walking into my daughter’s classroom this December and seeing paper chains hung up because it was pretty and a memory of dong the same when I was five at school 🙂