DIY Cellophane Faux Sparklers (Mega Frill Picks)
Time to get festive, folks! Let’s DIY cellophane faux sparklers. These could also be called mega frill picks.
What are frill picks? Those fancy toothpicks restaurants stick in your sandwich. I wasn’t fancy enough to know that term until I Googled it, so I’m calling these faux sparklers.
Tomato, tomat-oh.
Either way, they are easy to make and so stinkin’ awesome to decorate with for the 4th of July or any holiday, really. New Year’s Eve, I’m thinking about you!
All you need to make these cellophane faux sparklers or mega frill picks are wood skewers, cellophane in your desired colors, scissors, and tape.
Here’s the tutorial:
DIY Cellophane Faux Sparklers Step 1: Cut cellophane into strips.
I cut my cellophane into 3.5 x 14-inch strips.
Copying my dimensions is really not critical to the success of this project. I used 14-inch long strips because I had 14×14 sheets of cellophane on hand. It worked out great, but this craft is perfectly adaptable to other sizes of cellophane strips.
I used two of these strips per faux sparkler or mega frill pick.
DIY Cellophane Faux Sparklers Step 2: Cut fringe on each strip.
Cut fringe on each strip of cellophane using your scissors.
Don’t cut all the way through the cellophane strip. Leave a solid band approximately 3/4-inch wide. This is what will be wrapped around and secured to the skewer.
As you can see from the above picture, I folded my cellophane strip into fourths in order to make this part of the process more efficient. Unless you have a perfectionist streak deeper than the Grand Canyon, don’t worry about the fringe being cut perfectly equal. You won’t be able to tell when the cellophane is wrapped around the skewer.
DIY Cellophane Faux Sparklers Step 3: Wrap cellophane around the skewer.
Secure one end of your cellophane strip to the wood skewer with a piece of clear tape. Most clear tape is around 3/4-inch wide, which is why you want the uncut strip of your cellophane to be approximately the same width.
Wrap the cellophane strip around the skewer. This part is a little annoying because the fringe has a mind of its own and wants to get in the way.
Wrap it as tight as you can, but don’t worry about it overlapping perfectly. In fact, you’ll probably want to slide the wrapped part down a little on the skewer when you’re done to get the spacing you want for the sparkler effect.
When you are finished wrapping the cellophane strip around the wood skewer and adjusting it into the position you want, secure the remaining end to the skewer with tape. Make sure some of the tape is touching the skewer and not just the cellophane because you want the cellophane to stay in place.
You can either be done now or add a second strip of cellophane to your faux sparkler.
All of the faux sparkers or mega frill picks you see in this tutorial have two strips of cellophane.
When you’re done adding the cellophane, you may need to “fluff” or manipulate the cellophane to get it looking full, especially at the very top of your faux sparkler. If there’s a piece of fringe that is looking to wide, you can also cut it in half.
Now for the good part! It’s time to decorate your home with your cellophane faux sparklers.
I used mine to decorate my hanging baskets of ferns for the 4th of July.
Doesn’t the pop of color from the faux sparklers look fun and festive?
I specifically used cellophane to create these faux sparklers or mega frill picks because cellophane comes in a wide variety of colors and because it should be okay if it gets wet.
I’ve had my faux sparklers in my hanging baskets for a couple of weeks now and they’ve done great! While they have had some protection from the porch roof, my faux sparklers have gotten a little wet from rainstorms. I just waited until they dried and then re-fluffed them as the cellophane tends to stick to itself when wet.
Please note that I DID notice some color fading on the faux sparklers that were getting the most direct sun exposure after about 10 days.
These cellophane faux sparklers would also look awesome in a vase by themselves, in a flower arrangement, sticking out of a cake, or perhaps in the world’s largest sandwich.
Have fun with it!
I also love crafts that I can reuse year after year. When I’m done using my 4th of July decor, I will clean the ends of the skewers and store them until next year.
Please let me know if you make these faux sparklers. I’d love to see what you create! You can always tag me in your picture on Instagram or Facebook or comment on this blog post.
Happy crafting!
Cellophane Faux Sparklers or Mega Frill Picks Resources:
14 inch cellophane sheets in variety color pack (You could use a roll of cellophane or different size sheets too.)
12 inch bamboo skewers (You can use any size skewer you want!)
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