To decorate for Isla's baby shower, we decided to keep in the spirit of sustainability and watercolor paper scraps for bough hangings. This allowed the kids to contribute to the decorations for their new cousin.
To make your own, all you need is:
paintbrushes
watercolor paints
newspaper to cover the floor
scrap pieces of paper cut into rectangles
a hole-punch
colored embroidery floss or string
a bough
happy hands
After cutting the scraps into rectangles, let the kids wile away an hour painting whatever suits their fancy. Then let the rectangles dry. Once they have finished drying, fold each rectangle in half with the paint on the outside. Then punch a hole in the unfolded section and thread a string through the two holes. Knot the string to keep the holes together.
Then make a loop and tie a knot near the paper where the two holes are punched. Your ornaments are ready to dangle. If you'd like a little added sparkle, you can always brush a line of Elmer's glue along them and add some glitter. We preferred to stick to the simple, classic look of watercolor on white.
Micah said, "it looks like little paper leaves for the tree that lose its leaf clothes". Her image stuck itself in my head, and returned when I saw the backyard autumn trees behind the bough with its leaf clothes.
Rather than throw them away after the shower, we brought the decorations home and plan to store them and re-use them again. Max also made a proclamation to the effect of "let's make more of these and sell them to raise money for kids in Iraq". I love it when the day organizes itself like that.
