A Portal Made of Tissue Paper!

I wanted to create something magical for a Halloween Party using only things I already had. I decided to attempt a portal with tissue paper. I could not be happier with the result! This was a huge hit. Every guest was in awe! It's so exciting to create something that has such an impact, especially when it can be done for such a small cost. I feel like the options are limitless for this one!

1 - Tissue paper

2 - Aluminum Foil

3 - A few strands of LED twinkle lights (go as big or small as you'd like). LED is a must for safety.

4 - Light hangers. I used command strip hangers, but you could just as easily use thumbtacks.

5 - A hot glue gun with glue sticks

6 - Tulle (optional, but I really liked the effect and I didn't use much)

7 - Something to attach the aluminum foil to the ceiling. I used Gorilla adhesive putty (you could also use removable poster tape or command strips)

Attach the foil in strips until you have the size that you would like your portal to be. The foil really helps reflect the light under the tissue paper and is the base to hold the tissue.

We were using command strip hooks, so I tore little holes in the foil to expose the ceiling to attach the hooks. If you use thumbtacks, you could just attach through the foil. Hang the lights loosely, they lay into the tissue and give more texture to the appearance. We used purple LED lights for our portal. ONLY use LED, incandescent lights get hot and would be a fire hazard.

Here is the time consuming part! Attach your tissue using hot glue on a low setting. I have a small cordless hot glue gun that I used for this project. It took a bit longer that it would with a corded, but it was easier to maneuver. You want to kind of bunch up the tissue and put the hot glue on the foil, then you can just push the wad of tissue onto the glue. I would do that in several spots of each sheet, tucking the tissue inside. This is where you can add other colors of tissues to create the scene you are looking for. I feel like you could achieve so many looks with this technique! Like, you could use red and black for a Stranger Things vibe, or black with little bits of white and silver to create a black hole.

This is where I went in with thin strips of black tool to create a little extra depth and texture.

Take a minute to lay on the floor, in the dark, with nothing on except your portal. It is absolutely magical!