Streamer Hula-Hoop Canopy

It's no secret that magic happens.  All you have to do is be prepared to conjur some up.  When my daughter called to me from outside with the words "my hula hoop doesn't work any more" I assumed she meant her hips weren't swiveling today.  Outside, I saw what she meant; a square hula hoop.  Obviously it had been squashed in a door, pulled in a tug-of-war of territorial rights, or sat on with the misguided idea that it might be a wheel... whatever the reason, I confess my blood started to boil... but only for a moment.

Inspired by many extremely beautiful beribboned canopies on the internet, I suddenly remembered a bag full of streamer odds and ends that had been torn down from previous crafting experiments and left for a rainy day... or a sunny day as it turned out!

With nothing more than my 15-minutes, some wool to hang the hula-hoop, and a stapler to clip the streamer-bits in place we made magic.

The girls decided what we made was everything from a super-shower, a rainbow-waterfall, a giant sea monster, a princess palace, to a play-area for kids to have mini-parties.  They had a wonderful time climbing in and out of the streamers, laughing when they got tangled, watching the coloured lines sway in the breeze, and using their imagination to change games at will.

With a little more colour coordination (and a larger, rounder hula-hoop!) you could easily turn this decoration into:

• a red and white 'big top' photo booth for a circus party.
• a blue jelly fish that eats children at a sea-themed party.
• add a white lantern with a face over the top and make a ghost for Halloween.
• use pink, purple and yellow streamers in an ordered way and create a canopy over your cake stand for a princess party.
• and so on and on...

You could of course use ribbons instead of streamers and pin them instead of staple them... but if your children are anything like mine, then the quick-and-easy method means you're (slightly) less likely to freak out when they trash your efforts!

Go on - make your next party you-nique with some classy craft. x

... and join in the last few hours of fun Summer Giveaway fun on the right hand side of the blog.