I live in a town without a party store. Yep, that’s right. If we want party supplies we’re left to the big box stores like Walmart and Target which can leave us a little short-changed if we’re looking for something specific, or we need to go to the nearest (bigger) town with one which is about 30 minutes away. Even then, a party store might not have exactly what I’m looking for and I usually procrastinate to the point where it’s too late to order online. I’m also one of those people who doesn’t like a really bold theme with characters plastered on every party supply and decoration.
These are the reasons I’ve resorted to making most of my own decorations. I feel like I can make something that costs less and looks a whole lot better.
One of the things I’ve made for a couple of my daughter’s parties have been the paper medallion. Yes, there are already several tutorials on the subject, but I’m not going to reference any of those because I feel like I’m original I made these on my own before I saw any tutorials. I’ve taken lots of pictures to hopefully help you out, but bear with me because my camera sucks I need a new camera.
Here are the supplies you need:
4 8 ½ x11 sheets of paper or 3 12x12 per medallion
Glue gun
Ruler
Scissors, paper cutter or Exacto knife
Cupcake toppers or something else to put in the middle
Tulle or other embellishment
Helpful, but not necessary supplies:
Bone folder
Paper edge punch or decorative scissors
Step 1
If you’d like a decorative edge on your medallions do that first. I used a simple Martha Stewart paper edge punch, but you can use some decorative scissors too. Just be sure to keep your edges straight, of you won’t have a perfectly round circle. I loved this on the plain white paper, because when it’s all done, it looks like a snowflake! Some sparkly paper would be even better!
Step 2
Cut ½ inch off the width of your paper if you’re using a standard 8 ½ x11. Because you’re going to be folding these in 1 inch folds, that ½ inch just doesn’t work. If you’re using a 12x12, this step isn’t necessary.
Step 3
Using your bone folder (or if you don’t have one, a ruler), make a fold every inch down the length of your paper, then fold your paper accordion style. Note: there’s no need to try and flip the paper and make offset folds on both sides. The folds will bend forward and backward and you’ll save tons of time by just doing them all on one side of your paper.
When folding, be sure to keep your paper as straight as possible and try to keep the spacing between the folds as even as possible.
Sometimes you’ll end up with one edge that’s folded “up” and one edge down, like the picture above (especially if you accidentally forget to cut that ½ inch off in step 1). Preferably, you would have both edges facing down, forming a sort of “M” shape, but you can work with it if it does this. You’ll see why once you start gluing it together.
Step 4
Fold your paper in half, making sure the inside edges are down and the tops are even. If you wind up with the ends of your folds going opposite directions (like the picture in step 3), make sure in this step that the edge pointing “up” goes on the outside when you fold your paper in half, and don’t glue two “up ends” together (in step 5).
Step 5
Once you have all your papers folded and ready, start gluing the inside edges on each individual sheet, then glue each paper to the next. You’ll want the folded peaks to be seen on the upside and the raw open ends on the underside. Make sure the tops of the folds are nice and even when gluing. If you find you have one end that’s longer or shorter than the other side, simply make sure that one is hidden in the back of the medallion. As long as you glue the top edges of the folds straight, it will look just fine. Once it’s all glued, it should end up looking like this:
Step 6
You can leave your medallion looking all funky in the middle like this, or finish it off with some embellishments in the middle. I used tulle, plastic snowflakes from Hobby Lobby and some Frozen themed cupcake toppers found on Great Kids Birthday Parties blog. I have a two inch punch, so those were perfect, but if you want to go a little bigger, these toppers found SKGaleana would look amazing. Print on cardstock.
For the tulle, cut appx 15 inches from a roll, accordion fold lengthwise (just gather it up with your fingers, this doesn’t have to be perfect), then pinch and tie in the middle. When the tulle unfolds, it will create its own little medallion. Hot glue to the middle of your paper medallion. Then, glue one of the cupcake toppers you printed out earlier on top of the tulle (or snowflake, or whatever you desire). Voila!
Yes, there are a LOT of instructions. It all seems very technical until you actually do it and understand the steps. You’ll be pumping them out in no time! Here are some more pictures of the ones I used for my daughter’s Frozen party. Enjoy!
Again, I apologize for the crappy photography out-of-date camera…
Finally...here’s a pic from my daughter’s ballet themed party that I used 3 12x12 inch papers. I like using the 12x12 better, but that’s just my preference.
