DIY Project #5 - Inexpensive Party Decorations

Today's DIY posting will highlight a few inexpensive ideas you can do to decorate a birthday party, baby shower, bridal shower, or any other kind of event!

#1 - Chairs
If you are having an event and you need to rent chairs for it, alot of people totally rule out metal folding chairs. Why? Because generally they look sooo regular. But there is an inexpensive way to jazz up your regular folding chairs...and the magic word is TULLE! Tulle runs about $0.97 to $1.30 a yd depending on where you go and its a very inexpensive way to add some pop to them. I bought pink & white tulle from Walmart and used around 1.5 to 2 yards or so on each chair. Cut out your tulle for each chair and lay on floor, then start tying it in double knots around each one. If you want, you could also do a bow! (but that may require a bit more tulle around each chair!



#2 Welcome Sign
For certain celebrations, you may want to do a welcome sign or a sign announcing the occasion. This is a very simple thing to do and it really adds a nice touch to an event. First, you will need a black styrofoam board which can be purchased at Michaels for about $4.99, fabric of your choice, spray glue, ribbon (if desired), and a computer to print out your signage. I used two types of fabric and black ribbon for mine so I will explain how I did my version.

Cut out the fabric you want to use for middle piece. Use spray glue to stick it on foamboard.


Cut out equal amounts of the second fabric you want to use and glue that to each side. It doesnt have to be a perfect cut, the ribbon will cover that up.


Next take your ribbon (I used 4 inch wide ribbon) and glue it on each side covering up the line made by your outer fabric.


Print up your wording in Powerpoint or any other program you have, cut it out, and glue it on as you desire. You can add pics as well. The choice is up to you..and wallah you have your sign ready for posting! You can hang it up or place it on an easal as I did.

#3 Personalized Water Bottles


This is another super easy project and its become very popular at bridal showers, birthday parties, and baby showers. To create your own personalized water bottles...you just need a computer and the biggest key is you need WATERPROOF adhesive paper. I ordered mine from www.papilio.com (a 10 pk for $11 or so)
The reason you need the waterproof adhesive paper is because if you use regular sticker paper, the ink will run and completely ruin your label once you put it refrigerator or in ice bucket. If you are not chilling the water bottles, then regular sticker paper is fine.

Basically all ya have to do is determine what size you want your labels to be. I created my labels using powerpoint and did 6 to a sheet. The design is up to you. Just play around with size and print out some test sheets. There are some free templates online that you can use also. I will try to find one and attach link.

#4 Hanging tissue paper flowers from ceiling
Making tissue paper flowers is a very inexpensive and easy thing to do to decorate a party! Depending on how many you want to do, it can be very time consuming...but the final outcome makes its all worth it. This was my first time trying to hang them from ceiling and I loved the way it came out. It really makes a room pop! After you finish making them, all you need to hang them are thumbtacks and some clear fishing line which I purchased at Wal-Mart for $3.00. Tie the string around the center of your tissue paper flower and tack up in ceiling. For some variation, make your strings different lengths so they wont all be hanging at same level.

Check out a before and after pic of my bridal shower.

BEFORE

AFTER


So now you see, with a few small touches, you can make a room look lovely inexpensively!