The other day I mentioned that my favorite decoration from Charlie's All-American boy party was this super easy paper table runner. It's almost laughable how easy this thing was to make, but I figured that some of you like a simple DIY as much as I do, right? In less than 15 minutes, you can make a completely custom table runner for any occasion- the possibilities are endless with this thing! Plus, a paper runner is perfect for something like a kid's birthday party or an outdoor BBQ because it adds some color to your table, but can be thrown out if it gets messy.
Last week I bought a huge roll of drawing paper from Ikea for $4.99. I measured 7 feet of paper, grabbed red and navy paint that I had on hand (I used regular latex paint, but you could easily use acrylic paint-actually that would be easier!), and then used a chalk line to create a straight line on either side of the paper for my stripes. We didn't worry at all about painting a crisp line, because I was going for a rustic feel (that's imperfect, in layman's terms: ).
I also bought a wooden star at Michael's for about 50 cents. Buying an actual stamp that was the right size would have been expensive, and I knew this would work just as well. I hot-glued a stone onto the back for a handle- it's all about using stuff you have! You can find these wooden things in any shape you want so making a runner that fits your theme is easy!
I painted one side of the star…
…and rocked the stamp all around to get full coverage…
…and when I lifted my stamp, this is what I had:
I love the wood grain affect this created!
That's it! I love my paper table runner, and the fact that it took me less than 15 minutes to make allowed me to not feel bad at all to throw it out without batting an eye!
I thought it would be fun to see some other paper table runners people have created around blogland. Some of these things put my little table runner to shame!: )
Pinwheel table runner from Green Wedding Shoes
Crepe Paper runner from Good Housekeeping
DIY Wrapping Paper Runner fromMartha Stewart Weddings
Cheap and cute- just my style!; ) Have a great weekend!