Birthday parties in the past were certainly fun and also a creative opportunity to design decorations, invitations, crowns and party hats. We all care about the environment and should recycle and re-use as much as we can to avoid waste. This “Green Birthday Party” was made with a “going green” desire to design something from materials already available at home. So very often we end up with too many birthday hats after the party. This is a blessing in disguise as we can transform them into beautiful new party hats!

Party Hats Beginner Project by Gabriela Delworth Zoom in to view this project closer Make this project: Step-by-step instructions Mail a link to this project to a friend

Most party hats can be unglued or undone. To make them flat, put them in between books for a few hours. Once they are perfectly flat, use leftover paper and glue it right on the printed side with a glue stick, making sure to cover the whole surface. Make sure to keep the elastics intact. Let them dry completely in between books.



Once our party hats are dry, they are ready to decorate. Use any color of crepe paper you might have around and cut 30” x 2” strips. Crepe paper rosettes are a great adornment and we will make some for our hats. We will need needle and thread preferably of the same color of the paper. Sew along the edges, carefully making a ruffle until tight for a rosette. Sew the crepe paper just like fabric. Make one rosette of double ruffles for each party hat.



To add even more interest to our party hats adornment, add a silver cupcake cup that has been previously flattened and adhered with a printed “Happy Birthday” banner. Banners are already pre-designed for us, so just choose one, type the text on it, print and cut them out!

Top the party hats with glittered cotton balls. Just roll them in adhesive and glitter flakes. Let them dry. To finish the hats, dust the bottom edge with the same glitter. Use a brush and white glue to “paint” the edges and the glitter on it.

Happy Birthday Banner Beginner Project by Gabriela Delworth Zoom in to view this project closer Make this project: Step-by-step instructions Mail a link to this project to a friend

 

Now let’s make a party banner.



Use a big cereal box or a crackers box. Open and flatten the box to make the banner and take advantage of the length of it. Using a pencil, draw as many triangles as possible all along. The size of the triangles will depend on the size of the box, ideally about 8” x 6”. Leave about 2” space on top of the banner. Then cut the banner shape out with scissors or a craft knife.



Chose a nice paper and adhere it to the banner with a glue stick. Let dry completely in between books.



Make more crepe rosettes to mirror the party hats. Adorn them with scrapbooking flowers and sequins. Dust all edges of our banner with glitter flakes. Use a brush and white glue to “paint” the edges and the glitter on it. Let dry completely. Find a nice cord to glue to the back of the banner and use it to hang.



Cut a length of crepe paper and pleat it. You can add many pieces as they will be glued to the back of the banner and they won’t show the seam. Attach with a glue gun. Once dry, glue the crepe paper rosettes onto the triangle flags in alternating colours.



Finish the project with lace or ribbon along the edge. Glue around the bottom part of the banner with the glue gun. Now our party decorations are all finished and ready to display!

Gabriela Delworth
Crafts Designer – Instructor
Blog: http://gabrieladelworth-blog.blogspot.com

To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these projects, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.