Paper grocery bags are cut into 1.5-inch wide strips, rinsed with water, twisted and baked into a rope that is then decorated with leftover craft supplies and stars punched out from catalog covers.

Get out all of your leftover craft supplies – you're gonna use them up on this project and it's going to look great!

Stars punched out from catalog covers are stitched on with embroidery floss.

To begin, cut down the side of a paper grocery bag and remove the base so the bag lies flat. Cut off a 1.5-inch strip from the bottom of the bag.

Quickly rinse the strip of paper under water. Just a quick rinse, do not over saturate or the paper will tear.

Squeeze excess water from paper, flatten first and then twist into a rope. Clip on clothespins every 5 inches or so to keep the paper from unraveling. Place on a baking sheet. Let rope air dry overnight or place in 150 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes to dry.

Once paper rope is dry it is stiff and will not unravel. Remove clothespins and straighten out by gently pressing the rope in the direction you want it to go in.

Now you can start decorating your paper rope. I started by wrapping sections with yarn – tie the ends of the yarn together to secure.

I wrapped embroidery floss over the yarn and stitched on bells and pom poms.

Punch out stars from cover stock paper (the thicker cover paper of a catalog works best for this).

Using a needle and embroidery floss, stitch a simple design into the star and tie it onto the paper rope.

Be sure to leave some of the paper rope showing – it's more interesting that way.

To build a longer garland, tape the ends of the ropes together and wrap with yarn to hide the tape.

The kids can definitely work on this with you. Have fun!