make a Elastic Painting Birthday Garland
A delightfully fun process to create a handmade birthday garland for a party or a friend!
you'll need Materials
Directions
- Paint
- Wooden flags or print these ones ( flags ) out on cardstock (you will need scissors to cut them out and a hole punch as well)
- Twine
- Paint brushes
- Old casserole dish (we used glass for photography purposes, but we recommend metal for safety reasons!)
- Elastics
- Needle (*optional for threading your garland)
*Painted Beads (Optional)
- Wooden beads
- Acrylic paint
- Floral foam
- BBQ skewers
- Pony beads
OR
Purchase pre-painted wooden beads!
Craft Tray & Smock
We always find these items helpful as well!
Directions
Step 1: Painting your Beads
- Have an adult cut off the sharp points off of the BBQ skewers.
- Put a pony bead at the bottom of your skewer. This will hold your beads in place and prevent them from sliding down when you paint them.
- “String” your beads onto your skewer.
- Insert your skewer into your craft foam.
- Don your smock.
- Paint your beads. We find it helpful to hold the skewer with one hand at the top while you paint with the other.
- Paint as many colours as you would like for your garland.
- Allow to dry overnight.
Step 2: Painting Your Flags
- Carefully put your elastics around your casserole dish (be sure to clear this with an adult and use an old one). We used a glass one so you could see the results better in the photographs, however, with small children you may want to use metal instead for safety reasons.
- Slide your flags/pendents under the elastics as shown.
- Paint the elastics.
- Carefully pull up your elastic band a bit and then let it snap down, splatter painting your pendents.
- Repeat this process with as many colours as you would like.
- We then had an adult carefully slide the pendents out and place them on a craft tray to dry overnight so we could wash the tray immediately.
- Once dry, lace your beads and your pendents/flags onto your cord, twine etc.
- Hang your beautiful, colourful banner!
Purpose
- Exploring various painting techniques
- Developing fine motor skills (cutting, lacing, etc.)
Safety Notes
- Use scissors, needles and elastics with care & supervision.
- Cord, twine etc. can be a strangulation hazard therefore it should be used with adult supervision and for the intended purpose.
- Beads can be a choking hazard and should be kept out of reach from those ages 0-3 years or those that tend to put things into their mouths.
