Glamorous (Homemade) Party Decorations

I love a family craft project.

This year our annual quiet New Year’s Eve dinner in Southampton somehow blossomed into a party of 22, and I wanted to add a little sparkle to the Holiday decorations to mark the occasion.  As of about 9:00pm on December 30, however, I hadn’t done anything about it.  I still had a little time, though.  Julia was sound asleep, we had finished dinner, and the food and drink for the party were more or less under control.  Most importantly, though, I had a great team at my disposal –David and Julia’s godparents Marta and Dan are all creative, and, more importantly, are all game for an impromptu craft project.

My art direction was, to be generous, light.  I had a vague notion that we would make a paper decoration to hang over each fireplace, and that one would be something like a starburst and the other would be softer and rounder.  All I provided for guidance, though, was this little sketch.

Our materials were also pretty basic. On hand we had a roll of brown construction paper, some styrofoam balls, gold and silver spray paint, a glue gun (essential equipment), Mod Podge (similar to white glue), gold and silver glitter (never run out), bamboo skewers and some cardboard boxes.

Undaunted by these limitations, our inspired team headed to the basement and went to work, starting with the starbust.  We cut long triangles of paper, creased them to make them rigid and hot glued them onto a disk we cut out of a cardboard box.  A second layer of smaller triangles added depth, and Marta’s assemblage of skewered styrofoam balls sent our composition over the top.  The gold spray paint pulled it all together and gave our first effort a surprisingly polished, respectable look.

Kitchen, New Year's Eve

(Note:  as most primary school students probably already know (but we didn’t), spray paint tends to melt styrofoam.  Stick water-based glue and glitter to add sparkle to your balls.)

Spurred on by success, we tried another, this time in silver.  Instead of spikes, we used layers of paper loops to build our composition.  As before, we made it up as we went along, gluing it all onto a cardboard disk.  (This time, though, we added cardboard strips to support the outer arms rather than creasing the paper).  A coat of paint and some glittered styrofoam balls impaled on bamboo skewers completed our second sparkling creation.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve Day

I think our last-minute crafting efforts added to the festive mood of the party, which was great fun.  My favorite part of the event, though, may have been our little work party in the basement the night before.