DIY DIXIE CUP GARLAND WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
This adorable tutorial for Dixie Cup Garland from Hey Gorgeous is both thrifty and lovely! And I LOVE Christmas lights - who says they are just for Christmas? Using paper covered mini cups to create tiny shades for stringed lights is such a great idea for decorating on the cheap, and can be easily customized to fit any holiday, event, or home decor. Brides and grooms take note: How beautiful would these look at an outdoor wedding?!
One of the things I love most about this project is that it is totally customizable to match your own personal style and color preferences. Because the cups are covered with scrapbook paper, you can go as wild and crazy -- or as conservative -- as you want. I'm thinking a series of bright mustard yellows with some grays or brick reds thrown in. You could go red and green, white and gold, or wrap with your favorite gift paper. What about a a vintage floral? Maybe try a scalloped or zigzag edge?
HOW TO MAKE DIXIE CUP GARLAND WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Materials
Pack of 100 Dixie Cups
Scissors
Exacto Knife
Scrapbook Paper in Desired Colours / Pattern
White Christmas Lights (LED is Best)
Double Sided Tape or Hot Glue
Pencil
{Step 1} Carefully cut apart a Dixie cup and smooth it out so it is as flat as possible. Trace the smoothed out cup carefully onto a piece of paper to make your Dixie cup shade template. I had to try and make my template a few separate times until the template wrapped around the cup perfectly so don’t get upset if the first template you trace doesn’t fit over your cup perfectly. Make as many shade cut outs from your scrapbook paper as you will need to cover each individual bulb on your light garland.
{Step 2} Using double sided tape, adhere one end of a shade cover to a Dixie cup. Add another piece of double sided tape to the other end of the cut out and carefully wrap the entire piece around the cup. I tried to slide the edge of my cut out against the lip of the Dixie cup to give the ‘shade’ an as seamless as possible look. Make sure your edges match up and repeat this step until all of your Dixie cups are covered.
Like so!
{Step 3} Using a pencil (or you can just eyeball it) you’ll make an X on the bottoms of the Dixie cups. Then carefully using an Exacto knife you’ll need to cut an X pattern into your cup. This is where the bulbs will poke through and the X needs to be small enough that the cups won’t slip out and fall off. Repeat this step until all of your Dixie cups have slit X’s into the bottoms and then carefully begin popping in each bulb to the bottoms of the cups, stringing along until your garland is covered.
I only made a select number of shades for the purpose of the photos here but you get the idea. And it’s also important to note, that it’s a bit risky to use regular holiday lights for this project; they can get very hot and because of how close they would be to the cups and paper may cause the cups to melt or catch fire. The original project article suggests using LED lights which is great if you can find them with white wiring (I had no such luck)! For the purpose of pretty pictures I used regular lights.
Wouldn’t this garland be absolutely fabulous for a bridal shower, an outdoor wedding and or even the most perfect addition to a nursery in lieu of a night light?