https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/party-blower-birthday-wreath • Posted by Stephanie C.
I made the party blowers myself. No, I did not originally set out to make them! I searched high and low for the kind I remember from my childhood…made of paper, lots of fun colors, maybe some stripes or polka dots on them. But the only ones I found were made of this plasticy material in ugly colors and were themed after a cartoon. So I did a search and of course Martha had a tutorial. I skipped some steps and it actually didn’t take too long to make them.
I made the party blowers myself. No, I did not originally set out to make them! I searched high and low for the kind I remember from my childhood…made of paper, lots of fun colors, maybe some stripes or polka dots on them. But the only ones I found were made of this plasticy material in ugly colors and were themed after a cartoon. So I did a search and of course Martha had a tutorial. I skipped some steps and it actually didn’t take too long to make them.
Directions to make the Party Blowers: For this wreath, the party blowers don’t actually have to work! So we don’t have to worry about making them perfect, or having to seal up any seams for air to escape. Cut the scrapbook paper into 2x12 inch strips. I chose different patterns from the same pack.
Fold each strip twice so that the two long sides meet in the middle.
If you were making a working party blower, you would put a piece of tape all along the seam to seal it up, plus fold down one end about 1/4 inch to seal the end before going on to the next step.
Then starting at one end, roll the strip onto a pencil.
Take a rubber band or elastic and wrap it around the roll. Leave it for at least 24 hours.
It surprisingly didn’t take too long to make all of these!
Now we’ll attach the straw and finishing ribbon. If you like, you can prepare the ribbon first by running some through a Xyron machine, then cutting it into about 1.5 inch strips.
Or just cut ribbon into 1.5 inch strips and you can just use glue to adhere it later.
Put some glue along the end of the scrapbook paper roll. I found it easier to pour out some glue onto a plate and use a toothpick to apply the glue.
Then cut a straw in half, resulting in two 4-inch pieces. Take one piece and insert it into the paper roll, about 1 inch or so. Fold in the corners of the paper roll end and dab on some more glue to close it up.
Then take your ribbon piece and wrap it around (try to actually stick the ribbon on both the straw and the scrapbook paper, unlike the picture below). All done with the party blower.
Directions to make the wreath: I used cardboard to make a wreath form, with embroidery hoops as my template…one 12 inch and one 9 inch as the inside and outside of the wreath form. Trace and then cut out with scissors or craft knife.
I then dug up some wide ribbon and wrapped that around the wreath form to cover it up. This ribbon was from my wedding…only 6.5 years ago!
I wanted to add two party hats to the wreath. I found a great template from Creation Corner’s party hat headband tutorial, but I made them slightly bigger. I traced the template onto some cardstock, one color for each of my piggies.
I just stapled the ends together once the hats were shaped.
I also made some piggy printable rounds and stuck one to each hat. I’ll have directions on how to make these soon!
Glue the hats at one “corner” of the wreath, and start gluing on the party blowers. And don’t forget to tie a ribbon up top for hanging before you cover that area with party blowers.
I’m not really sure if I left some gaps on purpose for the 4’s and the happy birthday sign, but it worked out!
This wreath was a lot of fun to make and I pretty much used what I had at home. Hope you enjoyed it and please let me know if you make one yourself.