Pool Noodle Garland

Recently I was browsing on Pinterest and I came across this and decided to re-create the project myself. Do you do that? Do you pin stuff to make? And do you ACTUALLY make it? I try to make things I like -- not everything, since materials can be expensive, but I do like to find little projects and recipes to make life more interesting and to bookmark for the future.

Any-who... Back to the Pool Noodle Garland via Dollar Store Mom. I headed over to Dollar Tree to see if they some pool noodles and, lo and behold, they had the same three choices that Dollar Store Mom used. (I really wanted more color choices, but I wasn't spending more than $1 each -- this is cheap crafting, folks!) I picked up the three colors as well as a plastic clothesline to string everything on. The original project uses twine or string, but I figured the blue-and-white clothesline would be sturdier (and more colorful).

Ironically, while I waited to tackle this little craft, my husband worked on getting our pool ready.

And he saw the pool noodles and decided to use them for a late afternoon swim.

So much for that... I headed back to Dollar Tree to get three more!

The project was super-easy-peasy-simple and I think it's pretty cute and colorful. We have this totally boring, bland, plain white stockade fence around our pool ladder for safety reasons. It's a basic box where we can leave our towels and get in the pool and I think it's kind of ugly. This year, I wanted to jazz it up a bit and I thought this garland would be an easy and frugal way to add some cute summer color.

Basically you slice up the pool noodles into little flat shapes and then thread them on the string/rope/twine/whatever. It's as easy as that. Except when I got out the kitchen knife and slice up the pool noodles, the twins are intrigued and begging for a piece. So I hand Buddy Twin a blue pool noodle flower, and he takes a bite out of it.

Seriously.

He chomped on a pool noodle. I guess he thought it was fruit or some other food since I was cutting it up on the kitchen counter.

Sigh.

I pull the styrofoam out of his mouth and, choking crisis averted, continue on with crafting.

The plastic clothesline was thicker and I didn't have a "needle" to thread it, so I taped the end of the clothesline to a big giant needle to get it though the pool noodle pieces. It worked well enough for me to string up as much I wanted. I had plenty of pool noodle pieces left over, and I can make another whole garland if I want, but for now I'm letting the kids play with them.

The final project only cost $4, and like I said earlier, I could make two garlands for this price. The above photo only shows about half of what I made -- the other half links around the front of the fence. Frugal and fun! I'm sure you could add other things to the garland if you wanted, like cheap flip flops, or pin wheels or something to jazz it up even more.

And speaking of flip flops, for another great frugal and fun project, try these flip flop planters from dollar store finds on Dollar Store Crafts. Very cute!