Planning a carnival-themed party is not a walk in the park. There's a lot of planning involved to make sure the food, entertainment and decor captures everything a real carnival has to offer.
During the planning stages of a carnival-themed party, decide where to set up concessions and entertainment. Instead of creating multiple signs all over the venue to direct guests to food, why not create one large carnival-themed sign that resembles a circus tent? Use the instructions below to create a unique carnival-themed sign with cardboard.
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Materials
- 8-inch form concrete tube
- 3-inch-wide paint brush
- 4 small glass bowls
- Brown acrylic paint
- Cutting mat
- Small box measuring 16 inches long, 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep
- Craft utility knife
- Rotary ruler
- Pencil
- Plastic sheet
- Deep burgundy acrylic paint
- 2 1-inch-wide paintbrushes
- Hot-glue gun
- Glue stick
- Blue painter's tape
- Small paint brush
- Light blue acrylic paint
- 8-inch form concrete tube
- 3-inch-wide paint brush
- 4 small glass bowls
- Brown acrylic paint
- Cutting mat
- Small box measuring 16 inches long, 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep
- Craft utility knife
- Rotary ruler
- Pencil
- Plastic sheet
- Deep burgundy acrylic paint
- 2 1-inch-wide paintbrushes
- Hot-glue gun
- Glue stick
- Blue painter's tape
- Small paint brush
- Light blue acrylic paint
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Flip over an 8-inch form concrete tube. The words on the tube should appear upside-down.
2. Squeeze brown acrylic paint in a glass bowl.
3. Dip a 3-inch paintbrush in brown paint and proceed to paint the entire tube.
4. Lay a cutting mat on a flat surface.
5. Lay an unassembled cardboard box flat on the cutting mat.
6. Use a utility knife to cut the top flaps off the box. Discard these pieces.
7. Make two cuts. Drag the utility knife down two (diagonal) corners of the box to make two separate pieces of cardboard. Keep one long side (front or back) and one short side (side) of the box intact. For example, keep the front and right sides of the box attached and the back and left sides of the box attached.
8. Set one piece of cardboard from step 7 to the side. Keep the other piece of cardboard flat on the cutting mat.
9. Fold the box back and forth, approximately every 2 inches, making visible vertical stripes (indentations) across the box.
10. Fold the cardboard to join the ends together, making a cylinder or tube shape.
11. Lay the cardboard flat on the cutting mat.
12. Work from the left side of the cardboard. Use the rotary ruler and pencil to draw an equilateral triangle. Each side of the triangle must have a measurement of 4 inches, with the point of the triangle touching the top of the cardboard.
13. Draw the next triangle with the same measurements, except this time upside down, beside the first triangle.
14. Draw the third triangle with the point up, then the fourth triangle with the point down.
14. Continue measuring and drawing triangles in a point-up, point-down alternate fashion until you reach the end of the cardboard.
15. Use the utility knife to cut the upside-down triangles out of the cardboard. The top of the cardboard should now have a jagged pattern that resembles a picket fence.
16. Bend and fold the cardboard into a cylinder, joining the triangles so they touch each other. With every bend of the cardboard, the sides of the triangles meet. They should make a peak, resembling the top of a circus tent.
17. Lay a sheet of plastic on the cutting mat.
18. Unfold the cardboard and lay it flat on top of the plastic.
19. Squirt deep burgundy acrylic paint in a glass bowl.
20. Dip a 1-inch-wide paintbrush in the paint.
21. Paint the triangles, then set the paintbrush aside.
22. Squirt white acrylic paint in a glass bowl.
21. Dip a 1-inch-wide paintbrush in the paint.
22. Follow the vertical folds in step 9 as a guide. Start at the bottom of the first a triangle, and paint the entire length of one stripe (indentation) white.
23. Skip an entire stripe, as you will paint each stripe alternate colors. Paint every other stripe white until you reach the end of the cardboard.
24. Pick up the paintbrush set aside in step 21, dip it in burgundy paint and proceed to paint a stripe between each white stripe. Red and white vertical stripes should now fill the surface of the cardboard.
25. Allow the paint to dry.
26. Prepare the hot-glue gun.
27. Bend the cardboard so the triangles meet, forming the peek of a circus tent.
28. Squeeze a line of hot glue on one side of a triangle to bond it to the next triangle. Continue gluing the pieces together, forming a circus tent.
29. Tape the inside of the "tent" with blue painter's tape. The tape is an additional method of keeping the cardboard together.
30. Squeeze a line of hot glue around the interior base of the circus tent.
31. Slip the circus tent over the top of the brown tube from step 3. Press the bottom of the circus tent against the tube to ensure a secure bond.
32. Place the piece of cardboard set aside in step 7 on the cutting mat.
33. Use the rotary ruler and pencil to draw a vertical, 5-inch-long line.
34. Flip the rotary ruler horizontally, then place it against the bottom of the line drawn in the previous step.
35. Move the pencil to the right, drawing a 3-inch line.
36. Flip the rotary ruler vertically, meeting the end of the line drawn in the previous step. Draw a vertical, 5-inch-long line. You should now see a rectangle without a top. Use the following steps to create an arrow.
37. Place the rotary ruler horizontally at the top of the 5-inch-long vertical line drawn in step 33. Draw a 2-inch horizontal line, moving the pencil to the left.
38. Place the ruler horizontally at the top of the 5-inch-long vertical line drawn in step 36. Draw a 2-inch horizontal line, moving the pencil to the right.
39. Line the ruler up with the 2-inch line drawn in step 37. Angle the ruler, tilting the top of it to the right. Draw a 4-inch-long diagonal line to form the left side of the arrow.
40. Move the ruler to the end of the 2-inch horizontal line created in step 38. Angle the ruler, tilting the top of it to the left. Draw a 4-inch-long diagonal line to complete the point of the arrow.
41. Dip a small paintbrush into the bowl of deep burgundy paint. Paint a burgundy border around the entire arrow. Paint the word "Popcorn" on the arrow. Allow to dry.
42. Glue or tape the arrow to the large brown tube.
43. Create additional cardboard arrows to highlight different features of the carnival-themed party. Point arrows to entertainment, food or games.
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