Make your own palm trees for themed party decorations.
Use fake palm trees as table centerpieces for kids' birthday parties, or organize a party activity and get the kids to make their own palm trees. Not just for the kids, mini palm trees also make entertaining decorations for grown-up themed parties. Make several and dot them around the room, on side tables, or at intervals along the length of a buffet table. Make several of varying sizes and create a whole party oasis. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Paint the wrapping paper tube deep brown and set it aside to dry. When it's dry, draw small circles around the trunk with a darker brown marker pen to give the trunk a little palm-tree bark texture.
2. Cut four leaf shapes from green construction paper. The leaf shapes don't need to be perfect, but make them roughly half the length of the wrapping paper tube and 5 inches wide at their widest point. Leave a 1-inch tab on the wide end of each leaf to make it easier to tape the leaf to the tube.
3. Fringe the sides of the leaves to make the fronds of the leaves. Start from the tip of the leaf at the opposite end to the tab, and cut into the paper at an angle. Stop cutting 1 inch from the center of the leaf, cutting first down one side of the leaf, then down the other side. Make the cuts 1/2-inch apart.
4. Fold each leaf in half lengthwise, creasing it gently but not too crisply, then open the leaf and bend it slightly in the middle to give it a curve.
5. Tape the leaves around the top of the wrapping paper tube. Bend each of the tabs and hook them over the top of the tube, then tape them to the inside so the leaves hang down over the top.
Tags: palm trees, paper tube, wrapping paper tube, each leaf, leaf shapes, Make several