Rainbow birthday - the craft: rainbow garland from upcycled cardboard tubes

Is it the crafter in me, the artistic birthday girl, or the 12 children in the house on a winter day that called for a rainbow party craft?
I love that little E was soo proud of our enviro-friendly craft - the first thing she announced to everyone as they sat down at the table was, "It's made out of toilet paper tubes!"  Not paper towel tubes or wrapping paper tubes (which are both true!).  She's a crafter and an enviromentalist!

Here's what we did:

Materials: washable paint, glue, 8 rings (cut from upcycled cardboard tubes from you-know-where), paintbrush, hole puncher, yarn needle and yarn, cotton balls, large beads

1. Punch two holes on either side of each ring.

2. Paint seven rings (eight if you want to do a white coat under the cotton ball). With the lighter colors, you may want to do more than one coat.

3. Pull apart the cotton balls for a cloudy effect.  Glue them on the remaining ring.

4. Thread your needle.  If you double up the yarn and push the loop through the eye of the needle, you'll end up with a loop to hang the project when you are done.  Handy, eh?

5. Alternate bead and tube (oops - no cotton on that one - I glued it afterwards - with the kids, we skipped the white paint and glued the cotton before stringing everything so the glue could dry a bit).

6. Have fun and be creative with your color choices.

All strung...

...and ready to hang.

Perfect for a rainy day, or any day you need a little extra color!