starfish garland, III

After my last post, Anne of The Cape Stitcher (http:www///thecapestitcher.com)
asked in a comment about the expense and other considerations relevant to doing a garland with needlepoint items.  I realized this was a great opportunity for an explanatory blog.

When doing a garland, first you need to visualize what you imagine the finished garland will look.
In my mind, my garland will have 4 or 5 or more pieces of needlepoint finished as ornaments that can be attached to a cord to form the garland.  So the variables are:
        1.  how are the ornaments finished
                    a.  soft-stuff with cording
                    b.  carved (like they have 1/2" styrofoam inside and gymp on the edges)
                    c.  glued to cardboard with cording or a commercial gymp on the edge
       2.  what to use as a cord
                   a.  a cord that you make yourself out of custom colors to coordinate
                   b.  a commercial cord that coordinates
                   c.  possibly marine grade rope to add to the seashore theme
        3.  items to use as fillers  depending on the subject of your garland--like dog bones or actual starfish.
                  The possibilities are endless.
       4. Size of needlepoint items.  My starfish are 6" but they easily could be 3, 4 or 5 inches.  Larger than
                 that would, I think, be more like a tree topper.

This is my current starfish stitched in the Byzantine Scotch stitch using silk 'n ivory and sparkle rays.