DIY Eco-friendly Confetti
/I love glitter. Like, really love glitter. And with my constant smudgy, dark eye makeup, tendency to eat crap, distinct pear shape, and compulsive attraction to glitter, it's fair to assume I was a raccoon in a previous life.
I digress.
What is a blogger and her 9-year-old niece to do, once they acknowledge that glitter is literally a glitzy micro-plastic? It sort of dulls the sparkle, no? We were determined to find a way to celebrate New Year's Eve without trashing the planet at the same time, thus eco-friendly holiday poppers to the rescue!
There are a ton of great DIY blogs out there about how to properly execute a holiday popper, and we copied this technique here. Their directions will be much clearer and well-illustrated.
Here's what we used:
used toilet paper rolls (to be recycled after)
decorative tissue paper for exterior
glue or tape
leftover Christmas packaging (red shredded paper)
edible glitter (from craft store)
flowers or flower petals (or lavender would be amazing)
eco-friendly handmade paper, cut into small squares
gardener's twine
Here's why it rocks:
You're repurposing toilet paper rolls.
The exterior of the holiday cracker is recyclable, versus than buying a non-recyclable plastic confetti popper.
The glitter is biodegradable (it's made of dyed cellulose, a plant matter instead of plastic, and can be found in the baking section of most major craft stores)
The rest of the confetti is repurposed or completely biodegradable, so it gets tracked outside, it will compost away nicely. Or you can just toss it on the compost heap.
No plastic materials were used in the making of this NYE confetti cracker!
Your 9-year-old niece will love it.
Here's what we did for our confetti:
Chop shredded paper into finer pieces, and cut eco-friendly papers into tiny triangles (a hole puncher would work too, if your paper is the right texture.
Place flowers on baking pan in over set to 200 degrees Fahrenheit to dry, watching closely to prevent burning. (Dry time will vary greatly by flowers, ours took 20 minutes.)
Mix ingredients together, adding in gold edible glitter (this will stick to fresh or damp flowers).
Here's (roughly) how we made our holiday poppers (but you should use this blog link for more detail):
Cut tissue paper in rectangle three times as long as the length of your toilet paper roll, and wide enough to wrap around finished cracker.
Glue middle toilet paper roll to edge of paper, line two other rolls (but do not glue) to help with alignment and rolling.
Glue/tape cracker snap to inside of middle roll.
Gently roll up all three rolls in rectangular square of tissue paper. Twist one outer roll at break between rolls, tie with twine. Add additional glue to far end of cracker snap to ensure proper breaking.
Remove that outer roll, tilt cracker-in-progress so that tube is facing upward. Stuff with eco-friendly confetti. Twist and tie off second partition.
*This gallery contains affiliate links. This means that if you click through and give the product a whirl, I get a tiny fee for spreading the news at no extra cost to you. This helps me offset the enormous amount of time that goes into Compost & Cava.
How to enjoy without hurting the planet:
Put on Princess Crown and holiday bling.
Grab ends of holiday cracker. Pull aggressively.
Scream.
Scoop up fallen glitter confetti from ground, toss again and again until it is stuck in your hair.
Blame resulting 90s music festival hair on your Aunt Reese. Refuse to wash out, if possible.
I had such a blast, thanks to my little partner in crafting crime! We were able to toss around glitter without worrying about the consequences, and I loved getting to teach an upcoming generation the importance of environmental awareness. Even when partying!
...But who are we kidding, I have some serious princess crown envy right about now.
Happy New Year, everyone!!
