How to Make a Faux Holly Berry Garland

I bought a prelit holly garland to use as a Christmas decoration. Almost immediately, the fake foam holly berries either chipped to show the white foam underneath or fell off the plastic stems completely.

The LED lights still work and the holly leaves look fine although the garland looks a little naked without the holly berries.

I made faux holly berries for my Christmas garland. Here’s how.

 

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How to Make Faux Fake Holly Berries

You will need:

Wood craft beads – I used wood beads in this size

Wood filler – I used this white wood filler because that’s what I have on hand but you can use whatever color of wood filler you like.

Red craft paint – You can get the Berry Wine FolkArt craft paint I used here

Mod Podge Outdoor – You can buy Mod Podge Outdoor here

E6000 glue – You can learn more about my favorite go to glue here

Paint brush

Toothpicks

Scrap cardboard or similar

(Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)

Easy Step by Step How to Make Fake Holly Berries Tutorial

1. Start by filling the hole on one end of the wood bead with wood filler. Cover the hole, but there's no need to fill the entire bead cavity.

 

 

I started by creating a complexity smooth surface with the wood filler until I looked at a photo of real holly berries. I noticed they don’t always have a smooth surface. I filled a few beads with lumpy wood filler to mimic that type of holly berry for interest.

2. When the wood filler was dry, I put each bead on a wood toothpick to make it easier to paint each bead red.

 

I made a super fancy high tech drying rack by sticking the toothpick into a repurposed delivery envelope. It took 2 coats of paint to cover each berry. Allow the glue to dry overnight.
 

It's not pretty, but it works!

 

3. Use the same toothpick technique to apply one coat of Mod Podge Outdoor with a paint brush to each holly berry to create a glossy weather resistant finish. If plan on using your holly berries indoors, you can use Mod Podge Gloss. (You can learn more about Mod Podge Ultra Gloss spray formula here.)

4. Once the Mod Podge was completely dry, I used E6000 to glue a wood holly berry onto the bare plastic stems of my holly garland. I let the glue dry overnight.

 

The repaired holly garland looks better than new! I wrapped the garland around a walking stick made from a honeysuckle tree branch and concealed the battery pack in a Danish woven heart pouch. This helps to light my way as I play the role of a roaming Christmas gnome!

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