Hello, lovely blog readers! Do you think we are seeing the end of this Heat Wave? I feel like my brain cells are coming back to life enough to write a few coherent sentences. So, a little decorating inspiration today in case you are envisioning any parties or celebrations in your near future. And this from my sister who claims not to have been granted any of the creative genes in our family…
So this was this scene in my backyard last weekend before several dozen guests descended upon us for a pig roast. That being complex enough for our party-giving abilities, the decorations needed to be simple but big-impact. My sister to the rescue.
I’ll give a quick lesson on how to make these poofy tissue paper balls. Yes, tissue paper. You will see that anyone can make these whether you consider yourself “creative” or not. And I will concede that even tissue paper has a purpose in life. (Just not as a gift-wrap.) That’s what you call a win-win.
This is everything you’ll need. Easy, right? Scissors, some clear nylon thread like fishing wire and ten sheets of tissue paper. Warning: when you are shopping, the regular packages come with eight sheets. Eight. Seriously, what kind of number is eight? Also different brands make different sizes of sheets. (The bigger ones are better). And one brand of teal will not be the same as another brand of teal. Just sayin’.
To start, lay out your TEN sheets of paper flat and fold the whole stack back and forth accordion style.
Then cut a long length of the nylon thread. 48 inches at least. And tie around the middle of your folded papers.
(That’s a photo of invisible thread around white paper on a white countertop.)
Now you are making a diagonal cut across each end to make it into a point. This will give it the nice texture when it’s finished. You may need to cut just a few layers at a time, depending on your scissors.
OK a couple of bad photos to try to describe the next step. Open up both sides of your “fan” out flat, and start poofing out the individual sheets layer by layer. Poof five sheets on each side up, and five sheets down to end up with a sphere shape. You know what I mean, right? Be. Very. Careful. This is tissue paper after all. Very temperamental and moody. Liable to tear without notice. Sorry Tissue Paper. I’m trying to help you out here but you really don’t make it easy.
Use the nylon thread to hang up your poofy decorations.
When you’re done, you will have this lovely effect for your party…
Super easy to establish a mood and a colour scheme right away. Here I’ve done examples that could be more wedding-y or bridal shower-y. Also imagine a red/pink/white combination for Valentine’s Day. Or primary colours for a child’s birthday. Or school colours for a grad party…. They’re great for any large venue that needs a party vibe added to it. Outdoors obviously, but what about a school gymnasium or community hall?
Thanks for coming to do the party with me sis. Wouldn’t have done it without you. And well done for redeeming yourself Tissue Paper. Now if you would just move out of the gift-wrap aisle and into the craft aisle, I would be even happier.