Geometric Honeycombs

We are thrilled to have Lisa of Handcrafted Parties back with a follow-up tutorial from her amazing 
Geometric Crafternoon. If you missed this post, YOU NEED to check it out.  She threw an entire party for UNDER $50.00 (insanity, right?!)

Hi, I'm Lisa Frank from Handcrafted Parties here and today I am here to show you how to make the geometric honeycomb decorations I used at my Geometric Crafternoon.  There are few party supplies that my children are truly in awe of, but I must say that honeycomb decorations are at the top of the list!  You take a seemingly boring piece of cardboard, flip the ends around and VOILA!  A delicate and intricate party decoration unfolds like magic before your eyes!  Well, if you think that's impressive, wait until you see what's in store for you today.

For my party, I knew I wanted some DIY party decorations that I could either hang above the food and craft table, or use to jazz up the eating area and geometric wood bead necklace crafting station.  I've been dying for an excuse to buy honeycombs for awhile now and, since I'd seen other crafters cut them into a variety of shapes, I tried my hand at four different geometric shapes using mint green, yellow and grey 

5 inch honeycomb tissue balls.  

Ready to make some of your own?  Really, these may seem intimidating at first, but after you make your first one and see that it took all of 5 minutes and a few simple cuts, you'll be so proud of yourself (and feel free to blame me if you suddenly want to honeycomb-ize every shape you can think of!)  Don't forget to show off the little flip trick to your kids and earn some awesome-party-mom brownie points!

Here are the supplies you will need to make DIY Geometric Honeycombs:

honeycomb tissue balls  (mine were 5")

ruler

pencil or pen

scissors or X-acto knife

optional: washi tape or painter's tape (if you want to make it easy to fold these flat again after use...otherwise you can use the permanent adhesive strips that are included on the cardboard backing)

First, decide on the geometric shapes you want to create.  If you're super fancy + smart and remember your 3D shapes from 7th grade geometry class, you can sketch out some polyhedrons like a pro.  Or, if you're like me and your brain just froze up at the thought of 7th grade and math, feel free to Google "geometric shapes" to get some ideas.   Using your ruler and a pencil, sketch out your shapes on one side of the honeycomb ball.  Make sure you leave the punched hole, string, and stapled tabs in tact.

Use your scissors to slowly cut out your geometric shape, keeping the scissor blades as straight as possible to create clean cuts.  The cardboard + tissue paper is fairly thick, so I'd recommend heavy duty scissors for this project.  If you are using an X-acto knife, you will need to cut over the same area multiple times to go all the way through.  After you have cut out your shape, check each edge for any stray pieces and re-cut to clean them up, as needed.

If you would like to keep your geometric honeycomb shapes assembled permanently, there are adhesive tabs on one side of the cardboard backing.  Peel off the paper layer from the adhesive strip, hold both sides of the cardboard in your hand and fold around so that they are aligned on each edge and press together to secure.  If you would like to be able to fold these flat after your party for easy storage, you can use loops of washi tape on one side of the cardboard, as shown above.

Hold both sides of cardboard in your hand, flip them towards each other and line up the edges.  Press together to assemble and pinch to seal, making sure that the string is sticking out of the top for hanging.

Repeat the assembly process for each honeycomb shape.  That's it!  Now wasn't that easy?!

These stylish geometric honeycombs look great hanging from baker's twine, yarn, or ribbon.  You can scatter them on a tabletop for a pop of color and funk, hang them from a chandelier, tie them on a length of ribbon to create a garland, tie them onto a gift, or cluster them and tie onto the string of a 36" balloon for fabulous party decorations.  When the holidays roll around, they would look festive in white and silver as Christmas tree ornaments...perhaps with a light misting of glitter spray paint?!  Yes!!

I hope you enjoyed today's project and would love for you to come visit me at Handcrafted Parties for more geometric inspiration and DIY party ideas!  Now go forth and craft...

Lisa :)

source guide & credits:

concept, tutorial & photography| lisa frank of handcrafted parties

5"tissue honeycombs| shop sweet lulu