4th of July Fiesta Garland DIY
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!
Kids’ Hot Air Balloon Photobooth DIY
My friend Kate recently celebrated her daughter Scarlet’s 1st birthday. We wanted to do a photobooth especially for kids – and she came up with this cute hot air balloon idea. After gathering supplies, we sort of winged-it and with the help of Kate’s Dad, we managed to fashion a sweet little hot air balloon for the kids to “ride in.”
Continue reading for complete instructions and more photos.
Paper Calla Lilies DIY
Usually when I think of calla lilies, I think of plain old white ones. But there is a whole world of colored calla lilies out there. Gorgeous pinks, corals, mangos, yellows, and deep purple, even. Colors that make me want to go find gelato or sorbet right this instant. Here is a simple way to dress up a gift using just a few supplies – maybe for your dear, sweet mom for Mothers Day?!
Materials needed: various colored paper, tape, stapler, hole punch, yellow crepe paper streamer, scissors.
Step 1: Begin by cutting a square of paper in the shape of the top left image shown above. The size of the paper will depend on the size of the flower you want. I used a range of 3 – 5 inch squares.
Step 2: Cut a 5 inch piece of crepe paper, fold it in thirds width wise, then in half length wise (I made a bunch of these all at once, production line-style). Pick up your petal shaped paper and bend both sides together while holding the crepe paper rectangle inside. Staple the layers at the base of the flower and set aside.
Step 3: Repeat, and staple this flower to your first flower. When you have two or three flowers stapled together, you will want to hide the staples by covering them with a green leaf. I used a little double-stick tape to secure the leaf to the flowers.
Step 4: Punch a hole through the leaf and flowers, for your ribbon, twine or string to go through.
Step 5: Wrap your gift and tightly tie your flowers on top.
You can put as many flowers on each gift as you like – check out the photos below where I went kind of nutso with the flowers!
I have to give credit to Abbey at Aesthetic Outburst for the clever and cute idea of using neon electrical flagging tape – available at the hardware store – to wrap gifts.
Happy Wrapping!
Newlywed’s Front Door Surprise DIY
Paint-dipped Baby Food Jars DIY
Anyone with a baby knows how quickly those glass baby food jars can fill up the recycling bin. This DIY is a pretty, fast and inexpensive way to decorate for a baby shower or a baby’s 1st birthday – simply by dipping the baby food jars into paint.
Materials needed: clean glass baby food jars (labels removed), paint, and a shallow bowl.
Step 1: Pour out some paint into the bowl – you don’t need much, maybe 1/2 cup or so.
Step 2: While holding the bowl on an angle, dip the jar in, and begin slowly turning the jar as it touches the paint.
Step 3: Sit the jars right-side up to dry. I let mine dry overnight. It’s important to let them dry right-side up first so that no paint drips in the wrong direction.
Step 4: Turn the jars over for a few more hours to let the bottom dry.
I think this would be lovely with all different colored dipped jars. You could even get adventurous and double-or triple-dip them to make stripes.
Fill with flowers or tea lights, and let the celebration begin!
All photos by Kate Mathis.
Oh Happy Day is a party and lifestyle blog based in San Francisco. We just moved back after spending a year in Paris, France. We love to throw parties and make things!
Sponsors
Ad Network
