Try This: 2012 Election Party Decor
In what I like to refer to as my "real life", I love politics. Obviously, I live in Washington, DC, but you may not know that my master's is in public policy and I spent the better part of my still nascent career working for Congress. So, yeah, I think participating in our democracy is pretty important. And I hope you do, too!
In addition to that little plug, I'm also here to tell you that politics can also be an excuse for parties, the requisite party decor, and even a good drinking game. In fact, the first presidential debate of this election is tomorrow. Invite your friends over, make these decorations, and get informed!
Read on for the full tutorial + free printables.
Mini Bunting Garland
Materials: For each individual bunting, you'll need one piece each of red, white, and blue cardstock, (1) 6" wooden dowel or skewer, scissors or an xacto knife, craft glue, a stapler, and a rubberband.
One: Cut (2) 3" strips of blue cardstock, (2) 2" strips of white cardstock, and (2) 1" strips of red cardstock. Cut these longways so that each one is 11" long.
Two: Glue each pair of strips together end to end.
Three: Glue the white strips on top of the blue strip, and then glue the red strip on top of the white strip so that you have one long red, white, and blue strip 3" wide by about 21" long.
Four: Score the strip about every 1", and fold accordion style.
Five: Once folded, flip it over and apply a bead of glue all along the top of the back. The top is the edge with the red. Do not put glue on the first and last two folded panels (as shown).
Six: Fold it all back up and keep it tight with a rubberband while the glue dries.
Seven: Once the glue has dried, loosen the folds, and staple the edge of the end flaps to the first fold as shown.
Eight: Slip a dowel/skewer into the pocket created by stapling the flaps to the folds.
Nine: Create a garland by making as many more as you like, and threading some twine through the pockets with the dowels/skewers.
Candidate Straws and Food Toppers
One: Click on either (or both) of the two graphics above to access a larger version to save to your computer.
Two: Once saved, use the graphics to print out the sizes that you want for your decor. I used a larger size (2.5") for the straws and a smaller size (1.75") for the food toppers.
Three: Cut or punch out each circle.
Four: For the straws, just a cut a little slit above and below each candidate's name and slide a cute striped paper straw right through.
**Forgive me for the pink printables in my pics. My printer was low on some ink colors (obviously).**
Five: For the food topper, just tape them to a toothpick and stick 'em in something delicious.
Now, you're all ready for a festive little get-together to watch the candidates duke it out or even see the results come in on Tuesday, November 6th.
Oh, and if you know me in "real life", you know how difficult it was for me to make one of these graphics. These are the lengths I'll go to for crafting, people! :)
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ha!! i clicked over just to ask how hard it was to make uh, one of those little toppers.
ReplyDeletethe mini bunting is adorable.