by Chiara Alberetti Milott

Fiesta! Forever! for Fourth of July! Perfect for an outdoor barbecue to celebrate our country’s birthday – a fiesta-inspired red, white, and blue paper garland. They look so pretty with the sun shining through the tissue paper and the fringe waving in the wind. Get ready to party all night long!

Materials needed: tissue paper in reds, pinks, whites and blues, string, glue and scissors.

Step 1: Begin by separating the tissue paper into two sheets. Then cut out rectangles approx. 18 inches x 8 inches, so when it’s folded in half, you have a four-layer rectangle approx. 9 inches x 8 inches. This is by no means an exact science, so any size would work, really.

Step 2: Repeat step 1 until you have used all your colors and have a nice little pile of light blue, dark blue, red, dark red, pink, and white pieces.  I made about 6 or 7 rectangles of each color I had.

Step 3: Unfold your rectangle, and draw a line of glue across the center. Lay your string across the glue, fold the tissue paper over it, and press down with your fingers to seal the fold. Don’t run your glue line to and from the very edge of the tissue paper, rather, leave a little space so when you press your fold over, no glue squirts out the sides.

Step 4: Move your glued piece to the side and continue glueing and folding until you have the length you want.

Step 5. Let dry. This shouldn’t take too long – maybe a few hours, or overnight.

Step 6: Stack a few rectangles on top of each other, grasp firmly in your hand, and cut fringe.

Step 7: Unfurl, hang and enjoy!

Happy 4th, everybody!