| Party Favors and Decorations From Recyclables |
From "DIY Crafts"
episode DIC-151 |
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Home economist Deborah Durham makes fun party favors for kids--pinatas, candy dishes and tablecloths--from recycled items found around the house. Quick Table Decorations Recycle the colorful Sunday comics as a tablecloth that you can throw away when the party's over. Have kids color designs onto brown kraft paper with crayons to create a party tablecloth. If desired, they can color place mats and place cards onto the kraft paper to designate where each partygoer will sit (figure A).
Decorate the outside of a plastic water bottle with stickers. Fill the bottle with candy (figure B).
Pinata Materials:
Oatmeal container
Craft knife
Gift-wrapping paper
Spray adhesive
Scissors
Construction paper
Shredded newspaper
Small candy packets
Crayons
Small dime-store toys
Masking tape
Black marker
Ribbon for hanging
- Cut the oatmeal container in half, using a craft knife and cutting in a zigzag pattern around the container. The container is made of heavy recycled material, and this step will make it easier for children to break apart the piC1ata (figure C ).
- Fill the container with shredded newspaper, small dime-store toys, crayons, small packages of candy, etc. Tape the container together along the zigzag cutting line with masking tape--but not too securely. You want it to come apart easily when hit with a broom handle or a baseball bat.
- Decorate the outside. Deborah decorated hers to look like a cow, using gift-wrap for the body and legs. She cut feet from black construction paper, made a head with white construction paper, drew on a face with a black marker and added a paper tail. Hang the piC1ata from a ribbon.
Doily Candy Dish Materials:
12" doilies
Adhesive-backed circular stickers
Pencil
- Draw a square on the bottom of a doily inside the solid inner area. This will be the bottom of the candy dish.
- Fold the doily along the four sides of the square, bringing the sides up to form the sides of the candy dish.
- Place an adhesive-backed circular sticker on the inside of each of the four corners, sticking the two adjacent sides together at each corner (figure D).
Party Crackers Materials:
Cardboard core from a roll of paper towels or toilet paper
Sunday comics
Ribbon
Candy
Stickers
Small dime-store toys
Hole punch
Craft knife
- Make confetti by punching the Sunday comics with a hole punch.
- Cut the cardboard core from a roll of paper towels in half or thirds, or use the entire cardboard core from a roll of toilet paper.
- Fill the core with small dime-store toys, candy, etc.
- Wrap the core with the Sunday comics by rolling a piece of the funnies around the core and securing it with a colorful sticker. Leave an extension of newspaper on either end (figure E).
- Tie each end with a piece of ribbon (figure F).
Gift-Package Decoration Materials:
Lace doily
Ribbon
Candy or potpourri
Fill a round lace doily with candy or potpourri. Gather the doily around the contents, and tie with a ribbon.
Map Game
Materials:
Old map
Star stickers
M&M candies
Dice
- Place star stickers on an old map of the United States, leading from your house to Grandma's house or the house of a friend.
- Organize M&M candies by colors to use for game pieces.
- Roll the dice, and move M&M pieces along the stars to see who gets to Grandma's house first.
Small Favors Materials (for each favor):
Cardboard core from toilet paper
6" x 10" piece of felt
Two chenille stems
2" triangle of orange tissue paper
2 1/2" triangle of yellow tissue paper
Candy to fill favor
Spray adhesive
Thick craft glue
- Spray the outside of the tube with spray adhesive. Center and glue the felt around the tube, with fabric extending at both ends.
- Using one length of chenille stem, gather and secure the felt at the bottom of the tube. Stuff the felt into the tube. Fill the tube with candy from the top end (figure G).
- For the wick, gather and secure the felt with the other chenille stem. Center the orange triangle on the yellow triangle tissue, and pinch the bottom edges of the triangles together. Glue to the wick.
Newspaper Candy Bag Materials:
Sunday comics
Twisted paper ribbon
Small box
Glue stick
Candy
Cardboard
- Wrap a piece of the Sunday comics around a tall, narrow box. Glue in place with a glue stick. Remove the box, leaving the newspaper bag.
- Cut two pieces of cardboard, and glue them to the inside of the bag for added strength before putting on the handles. Pierce a hole in each side of the bag near the rim, and thread a piece of twisted paper ribbon through each hole from the outside. Tie a knot in each end of the ribbon on the inside of the bag.
Variation: - Rubber-stamp a piece of brown kraft paper, and cover a soda cup. Tape the paper in place. Add a twisted paper-ribbon handle by piercing holes in opposite sides of the cup near the rim and threading the ribbon through from the outside. Tie a knot in each end of the ribbon on the inside of the cup (figure H).
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