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Olympics Themed Party: Decorative Torch

The invites have been sent and I am getting pretty excited to have a few friends come over and watch the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies with me on August 5th!  On the Facebook invite that I created I asked all the guests to wear the colors of the country they will be rooting for and I made sure to invite a diverse crowd. One of the things I love most about the Olympics is that for 2 weeks every 4 years the world comes together to cheer on their countrymen and women. And in times like these, we need this moment of unity. And that’s what I want my party to refelct.  So, I decided to take on a few DIY projects and decorate my house accordingly for the party.

One of the most iconic symbols of the Olympics is the torch.  I still remember at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta when Muhammad Ali lit the torch (I am getting chills just typing about it!)  So the torch is where I began with my crafty craftiness, haha!  Sometimes when I come up with projects the best thing for me to do is to just go to hobby lobby and just walk around to try to get some inspiration.  Lo and behold I found these perfect styrofoam cones that were the perfect torch shape. My initial reaction was to cut some flames out of cardboard…boring…but then I perused the gift wrap aisle because I needed to get a bag for a friend’s birthday gift, and thought tissue paper was a much better idea and would give the project some movement too!  I am so eager to share with you these simple steps to create a decorative torch to display at your Olympics watch party or as a prop for an Olympics themed photobooth for your guests.

The Perfect Décor For Your Olympics Watch Party

 

Olympics Torch Materials

  • Styrofoam cone
  • Metallic gold spray paint
  • Tissue paper in red, orange, and yellow
  • Scissors
  • Glue gun
  • Glue gun sticks

 

Step 1

At the bottom of your styrofoam cone, in a circle carve out a trench about 1/2 an inch deep.  This will be where you will eventually stuff and glue your tissue paper flames.  You don’t have to get fancy or neat with the carving.  Just use scissors and go to town!

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Step 2

Spray paint your cone with the gold metallic spray paint.  Make sure you spray paint evenly with a back and forth motion holding the spray paint can at least 1 foot away from the cone (this was important because I was all willie-nillie with the spay, got too close to the cone and the paint ate through the styrofoam making big holes!)  Spray until cone is gold on all sides and on the top (tip) and bottom (where your trench is).

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Step 3

Once the cone is dry, fire up that glue gun!  Pull out one sheet of tissue paper per color and fluff each sheet according to your liking.

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Step 4

Remember that trench you dug at the bottom of your cone?  Fill that area with glue from your glue gun.  Make sure you don’t get the nozzle of the glue gun on the styrofoam. Then, stuff the bottom end of your tissue paper into your pool of glue in the order of the colors you would like.  Once the glue is set and tissue is secure, fluff it!

And that’s it!  It’s the easiest DIY ever and it was fun to create.  My daughter Cami really wanted to help but I made her sit this one out because I didn’t want her inhaling spray paint fumes!

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She really wanted to get after that tissue paper though.  So I ended up making her a mini torch of her own to get in the Olympics spirit too (the styrofoam cones came in 2 sizes).

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I remember thinking during the 2012 Olympics in London how, by the next Olympics in 2016 my husband and I could be parents by then.  And here we are!  It’s crazy.  I know Camilla is too young to understand now,  but I look forward to sharing my love for the Olympic games with her in the future and giving her the hope that if she works hard and stays disciplined she can achieve anything.

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