Dress up your walls for a colorful Fourth of July party with this pleated fan DIY.

Sunset Staff

So you want to have a Fourth of July party? Red, white, and blue decorations are almost mandatory, and they’re not hard to find at the party superstore. But why settle for the same decorations everyone else will have? It’s more fun, more creative, and probably no more expensive to make your own wall decor. Declare your independence from big boxes this year by making DIY multi-colored bunting.

Courtesy of Lisa Milestone of Pippa & Co., this DIY craft project will impress your guests for your Fourth of July party or any celebration year-round.

There’s something about this tissue-paper bunting that says “traditional Fourth of July,” yet you can use it for any occasion. Just switching out the colors gives it a whole different feel, depending on the occasion. Lisa stayed with familiar red and blue here, but it’s not hard to see how you could go red and green for Christmas, pink or red for Valentine’s Day, and so on

Start by making 1-inch accordion folds lengthwise on a large sheet of tissue paper, folding it in half along the marks. If you want to personalize your design, you can add decorative edging by cutting into the tissue.

In order to adhere the center, space out dots of glue evenly along the tissue paper before folding it in half once more. Use tape to connect the multiple pieces in the center—as shown, Lisa used two sheets of paper to create two pleated fans—and spread open. The finished look is so fun and festive and will look great hung on a wall, draped on a mantel, or hanging off the edge of a party buffet table.