10 Ways to Decorate With Paper Plates

– colorful paper plates

– washi tape

– toothpicks

– LED tea lights

– Tools: hot glue gun, sewing machine, scissors, xacto knife, double stick tape, decorative hole punch,

1. Dessert Stand: For cupcakes, oreos, and whatever else strikes your sweet tooth.

For this one, you’ll need three plates. One white one to act as the cone that holds everything together, and two other decorative ones. Roll your white plate into a cone. Trace the bottom on one plate and cut that circle out. Cut a small circle out of the middle of your second plate, and arrange the plates on the cone.

These go pretty perfectly with our

Freestyle a flower shape that you like (or use our template). Make 4 flowers, each one smaller than the next. Cut off a strip of plate to act as the ring. Curl the petals of each flower around a pencil to add more dimension, glue from biggest to smallest, and attach to your napkin ring. Repeat!

3. Charger Plates: Just because you’re using paper plates doesn’t mean you have to toss your table manners to the wind.

Create charger plates by stringing ribbon through the edges of a large paper plate.

4. Party Picks: Make your party toothpicks a little more festive by adding flowers.

Cut out, glue one, add an accent hole punch from one of your colorful plates, and you’re done.

5. Candle Holders: Since we’re using paper, we’ll stick to LED candles at this soiree.

Cut a paper plate in half, cut off the ridged part, and use a decorative hole punch for your design. Tape around an LED tea light and you’re good to go.

6. Serving Bowls: You’ve probably seen this one before as far as paper plate hacks go.

Draw a square in the middle of your plate, cut at each of the four corners. Fold the cut pieces up, paper clip ’em, and use colorful washi tape to seal the deal. Remove paper clips and fill with snacks!

7. Platter of Roses: For a little romance and whimsy, make paper roses and add them to a plate or two as a platter.

To create roses, draw a spiral on your plate, cut out along your line, roll the long strip you’ve just cut, and glue. For a more in-depth tutorial on the art of the paper rose, head here.

8. Photo Props: Gotta coordinate your photo props!

Use our glasses and mustache templates to create a whole bunch of fun props for impromptu photo shoots.

9. Paper Plate Garland: Turn scraps from all your projects into a beautiful garland.

Like our paper garland from last week, this one’s all about using scraps and your sewing machine to create a gorgeous decoration. Cut a bunch of strips out of your plates, sew (leaving about a quarter inch between each strip), and hang!

10. Backdrop: Whether you’re creating a backdrop for your snack table, for photos, or just a piece of colorful wall art, a bunch of plates together can actually add a lot of pop!

We used painter’s tape and striped square plates to create our backdrop. To add a bit more dimension, we used smaller plates of the same pattern but turned in the opposite direction.

And there you have it! An entire party decorated with paper plates.

How else might you hack it up with paper plates when you’re hosting? Talk to us in the comments below.