These watercolor fans would be amazing for a wedding or birthday. We tried several different techniques but finally tried using India Ink and they came out in such vibrant colors. They are super easy to make. You can lay out a bunch and do them at the same time. My friend Maren has amazing white hair and we asked her to come take a few photos for us.

Materials: White tissue fans, spray bottles (1 for each color), India ink, water, paper clips, gaffer’s tape

Step 1: Open all the fans and lay them out. You may want to place newspaper or paper underneath so it doesn’t stain your floor/the ground.
Step 2: Pour a little bit of India ink into a spray bottle, add a little water (around .5″) to dilute the ink. You may need to play around with the proportions to find the right vibrancy.
Step 3: Spray the ink onto the fans. If you twist the nozzle, you should be able to change the consistency of the stream (ranging from a mist to a direct spray.)
Step 4: Repeat step 3 with different colors. We tried not to mix the color palette of the fans too much on each fan – otherwise they looked dirty. ( We kept greens & blues together and pinks & yellows together.) Make sure the fans don’t get too wet or they’ll start to tear.
Step 5: Let the fans dry for a little while until they’re slightly damp to the touch. Then fold them back into their original flat shape to finish drying.
Step 6: When the fans are dry, open them up and lay them out on the floor. Repeat steps 2-5 until you’ve reached the color vibrancy that you want.
Step 7: Arrange and hang the fans from the ceiling with gaffer’s tape. We mixed in some solid colored fans from our shop as well.

Photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day