Ways with wallpaper

It’s wallpaper decorating – but not as you know it. Sarah Withell gets into party mode.

Wallpaper projects
Wallpaper inspiration

We’ve all used wallpaper for papering walls, but have you ever considered its other potential uses? If you select a suitable design, a roll of wallpaper can provide a cohesive theme for a baby shower, tea party, or even a wedding. It is a particularly good solution for those who often don’t know where to start when it comes to decorating an event. A roll of wallpaper and a few bright pops of colour can go a long way towards creating a visually impressive event (and don’t tell your guests, but it’s surprisingly easy).

You will need

1 x roll of Resene Blossom – Bud wallpaper #47599
Resene test pot colours - Resene Havoc, Resene Trinidad, Resene Plum
Metallic paint and blackboard paint, gold glitter
Rough twine, white chalk, painter’s masking tape and brushes, assorted glass jars and/or bottles, cans or similar, an old picture frame, spray adhesive.

Instructions

Handy hint: If you need help painting a perfect blackboard circle, simply paint on to a different piece of wallpaper, then use a dinner plate and craft knife to cut out a clean circle. Glue this onto your party sign.

Bunting:

Cut out a piece of wallpaper that is twice the length of your chosen bunting flag shape. Fold the wallpaper over on to itself and glue together with spray adhesive. Smooth out the bubbles with a ruler or similar. Now the key is to leave an unglued section along the fold line, like a tunnel. This is for threading the bunting on to twine. Once you have repeated this process with multiple pieces of wallpaper, you can mark your chosen flag shapes with a pencil and cut them out. Once all your flags are cut, simply thread some twine through the unglued space along the top.

Centrepieces:

Take a selection of glass jars and similar vessels and wrap pieces of wallpaper around the midsection of one or two. Fix with spray glue or use some clear tape at the back for a less permanent solution. Using some bright test pots, add pops of colour to the other vessels by dipping the bases in paint, or masking out stripes. I painted a jar in Resene Metallic Goldmine and added some gold glitter trim for a bit of fun. Give your jars lots of coats of paint to get a good coverage. Finish with decorative twine and your choice of greenery or flowers.

Party sign:

Using an old picture frame (minimum A3 size is best), cover the backing board with wallpaper using spray adhesive. Wrap the edges around the back and seal these down too. Use a ruler or similar to smooth out any air bubbles. Paint a large circle in the centre of the board with blackboard paint, and use this space to write a welcome message, or the name of the event in the centre. Paint the old frame in a bold new colour. I chose Resene Havoc . Once the paint is dry, frame up your sign and display hanging, or on an easel. For my party layout, I chose to lay the frame on the table as a border for my centrepiece jars, and leave the sign unframed. Either way, the cool thing is that you can keep this sign for your home after the party, and simply change out the blackboard message to suit.

Table runner:

This is really easy. Just roll out a table length of wallpaper down the centre of your table and trim the ends in the shape of your choice. I cut mine to match my bunting flags.