DIY Tropical Watercolor and Crepe Paper Garland
As the days start getting warmer, I begin getting the itch to add some pops of color into my home to help cheer up the space. Tropical plants are super cute and in right now, and while somehow I manage to keep myself, my husband & my cats alive I cannot seem to do the same to a plant! So I decided to create something I knew that I wouldn’t be able to kill… paper plants! 😉 I made these super fun tropical plant paper garlands with a mix of hand painted water color paper & crepe paper from our friends at Paper Mart. Let me show you how I did it!
WHAT TO GET:
-Crepe paper (I used this one from Paper Mart in Green Tea, Moss, Forest Green, Light pink, Pink & Hot Pink)
-Watercolors (I used a pan set from Reeves)
-Watercolor paper like this (low quality is fine, you could probably even use card stock if you don’t use too much water)
-Paintbrushes (a variety pack like this is great since the size & style depend on the technique you want to use)
-Water
-Scissors (I love these aqua ones!)
-Hot Glue gun
-String/ribbon/rope ( I used natural jute twine like this)
–Hole punch (Optional as you can also just cut a little slit with your scissors)
WHAT TO DO:
1. I (along with some “help” from my cat!) painted my watercolor paper first to give it some time to dry, which didn’t take very long! I mostly used a dry brush technique where you only use enough water to gather up as much paint as you want to use and then I used a lot of random brush strokes, going for a more abstract feel and not perfection.
2. Once the watercolor paper was completely dry I cut it into my tropical plant shapes by folding the paper in half and eyeballing the shape I wanted. I went for a monstera type shape, banana leaf and various of other shapes, I googled tropical plants for inspiration. How many you make is completely up to your aesthetic, I wanted mine sprinkled in with the crepe leaves.
3. For the crepe leaves I cut a thick strip of paper from the roll, eyeballing it, maybe about 5-6 inches wide.
4. I then cut it into three sections, again eyeballing it none of this needs to be perfect since you will end up trimming most of it away when you cut your leaf shape.
5. Cut that (now square) shape diagonally to make two triangles.
6. Using a hot glue gun, glue the longest edges together to create one triangle. Once the glue is complete dry, peel back to where the edges are glued together, running your fingers along the seam to get the paper to lay flat.
7. Freehand cut the crepe paper into the shape of a simple leaf. For a more tropical banana leaf look, I cut out little triangles along the edges and left some of the other leaves solid.
8. Punch a hole in one end of all of the leaves and string them how you see fit along with your painted leaves too.
And you’re done! Hang your colorful tropical garland any place that you want to liven up, I made three small ones and hung them in the entry way of my home so now I will be greeted with happiness. 🙂
-Enjoy xx, Nik
About Nik:
Nik is a maker, day dreamer & potty mouth who loves cats, coffee and craft beer. She is a self taught hand embroider and will DIY pretty much anything she can get her hands on. She is currently pursuing her passion for photography, you can see her work here www.nikvphotography.com . She lives in Long Beach with her husband and her three awesome cats (that she can’t shut up about).
