Dollar Store Decor – DIY Photobooth Backdrop
Since I like you guys, I’m not going to lie and say this DIY is the easiest but it is pretty cheap and awesome. It’s actually my favorite and the initial inspiration for the entire Dollar Store Decor series. I say this DIY isn’t the easiest because it’s time consuming and the tissue paper can be tricky to work with but once you get into a rhythm, it’s really not that bad. So give this DIY photobooth backdrop a go and you might surprise yourself with your badass crafting skills!
All pictures featured were taken by our girl Brittany of BKM Photography.
Supplies:
- plastic tablecloth (or shower curtain) $1.00
- tissue paper $1.00
- scissors (I’m gonna assume you have the following items at home)
- glue
- foam brush
Step 1 – CUT.
Cut the tissue paper in strips. To make this pattern out of tissue paper, I cut long strips of the paper. I took all layers of each color and cut them while they were still folded. I varied the size of each strip because I didn’t want each one to be exactly the same.
Step 2 – ARRANGE.
Lay the tablecloth out on a hard surface. I used my kitchen table and did this in sections. I found it easiest for me to layout where I wanted the tissue paper before I started gluing. This way I could make sure everything was spaced and positioned just where I liked it so that it looked as if it were completely random and didn’t take me 30 minutes. If you are not OCD in this way, you can proceed to step 3.
Step 3 – GLUE.
Glue the strips of paper onto the tablecloth. Once I had the pieces laid out, I would brush some glue onto the tablecloth, press the tissue paper onto the glue and then brush more glue on top of the tissue paper.
A note about tissue paper – it’s FRAGILE. Once it gets wet it will tear and crinkle easily. Do not worry about it getting crinkly and folding a little onto itself, from far away, you will not notice this. But do be fragile with your painting as you don’t want it to start ripping and ruining the strips you’ve created. If you do get a tear, you can cut a small piece of paper and lay it over as a patch. This will blend in just fine!
Step 4 – Keep GLUING.
As I mentioned before, I did this in sections… you could move from the top down or break it up into four quadrants. I glued paper onto the top fourth, let it dry, scooched it up on my table and painted the next fourth, and so on. This allowed me to not worry about touching wet glue and tearing all of the fragile tissue paper while it was drying. After you have glued all of your tissue paper down, make sure to go over and touch up any pieces that have started to peel away or that you might have missed. Allow entire backdrop to dry for at least an hour or so.
Step 5 – HANG.
But first, a warning – this bad boy is pretty fragile. By the time it was all dried out, I was able to fold it up and transport it without any major damage but it still needed to be handled with care. Hang your backdrop up where ever you would like your guests to take pictures.
Step 6 – SMILE!
Have fun posing and taking pretty pictures in front of your beautiful backdrop!
Expert tip:
I used a plastic tablecloth to make this project but once we hung it up we realized that it is very narrow (as you can see in the last picture). If you were to use the tablecloth, you would definitely need to make two or hang it horizontally if pictures were being taken from the waist up. However, the shower curtains at the dollar store are pretty much the same material but are longer. Plus, they have holes in the top for easy hanging!
