Crèpe Paper Circus Tent

$4 - $6 (based on 2017 prices)

Makes one tent

For the demented circus theme at my office, I needed a tent and creating one out of fabric or (as one colleague suggested) vinyl tablecloths seemed too cumbersome. I saw this idea at a baby shower, where the mother had created a canopy for the crib using a hula-hoop and blue crèpe paper. I decided to implement the concept with the tent and, to my surprise, it proved rather effective.

• One medium-size hula-hoop (roughly two-feet in diameter)
• Two rolls of red crèpe paper (roughly seventy feet per role)
• Two rolls of white crèpe paper (roughly seventy feet per role)
• Three yards of twine or yarn
  

1. Cut the twine or yarn into four two-foot sections and tie them to the hula-hoop. Their length depends on how low you want the hoop to hang. Also, their color is contingent on how well you want them to blend into the surroundings.

2. Use the twine or yarn to hang the hoop. You could utilize thumb tacks or ceiling architecture to aid in this process.

3. Tape crèpe paper to the hoop and fan the strands outward. How densely you arrange the strands will determine how thick your coverage will be: a tighter cluster will produce a fuller tent. To mirror the typical circus color scheme, alternate between red and white.

4. For additional embellishments, consider attaching a cluster of balloon to the hoop or weaving strings of popcorn or tickets through the crèpe paper.