I had almost forgotten about posting this little quick project. Last Halloween my FIL hosted a bit of a Halloween party in his “under renovation” home. The “under renovation” part meant we didn’t even start decorating until a few hours before everything was to start. I learned it’s amazing what you can throw together really quickly…including this fun addition to his street number light post that cost less than $1 to make.
Supplies Needed:
- Plastic Table Covering (from your local dollar store)
- Scissors or Rotary Cutter & Mat
- Tape (I used painters tape, but scotch would work as well)
Instructions:
- Carefully unfold the initial vertical folds of your plastic table covering so that it is still folded vertically. (This will allow you to cut longer strips quicker and more precise).
- Using your scissors or cutting tool measure over approximately 2 inches and cut up the length of the outside vertical edge of the table covering.
- Repeat 3 more times so that you have 4 strips.
- Carefully open up your strips so that you have one long piece. Hint I keep mine doubled so the color is a bit more pronounced.
Wrapping the Post:
- Using your tape attach the bottom of the first strip to the bottom of your post at the angle you wish your strips to run.
- Carefully wrap the plastic strips around over the tape and then start carefully wrapping the plastic strip up the length of the post. Make sure to keep the strips pulled just tightly enough to keep it in place.
- When you reach the top, use an additional piece of tape to hold it in place. Don’t worry about the tape showing since the bow will cover it up.
Creating & Attaching the Bows:
- Take the second strip (again I always use a double layer of the table cover) and hold it in your hand about 6 inches from the end.
- Make a loop folding it to meet your fingers in the center.
- Repeat on the opposite side. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until you have approximately 7 inches of the strip leftover.
- Loop the leftover strip around the center and tie the two ends together.
- Pull your loops to make them all uniform in length (it’s ok if it looks a bit flat at this point)
- Carefully open up the loops of the bow, pulling apart the two sections to “fluff” up the bow.
- Repeat using remaining 2 sets of table covering strips.
- Using the 6 inch trailers tie the bows around the top of the light post. By tying them all side by side it the bow will go completely around the top of the post and give a much fuller look.
- Either trim the trailers to have pointed ends, or tuck them inside the bows so that they don’t show.
The great thing about this project is I still had about 1/2 of my table covering left…which was a perfect size to either cover the long island in his kitchen (or make a Halloween wreath?). Also, since it’s made from plastic it wasn’t an issue when it started raining a few moments later!
Total Cost: $1
You could also use this same approach using any of the plastic table covers found at your local dollar store…I’m thinking a red and white candy-cane look could be fun for Christmas!
Looking for more Fall or Halloween projects? Check out the side bar to the left for a quick listing!
