Put yourself into a summer state of mind with DIY tropical party décor! Tropical décor is a fun way to add lush designs and vibrant color to summer pool parties, backyard barbecues, birthday celebrations, and more. Learn how to use COLORSHOT to transform your next party into a colorful luau with this tutorial from Oh Yay Studio!

What you need:

COLORSHOT Premium Spray Paints (This project uses Cosmo, Summer Pedicure, Orange Slice, Treasure Chest, Island Girl, Mermaid, Scuba, Cash, With a Twist, and Lucky Penny)

COLORSHOT White Primer

Cardboard

Pencil

Glue

Measuring tape

Scissors or box cutter

Faux tropical leaves

Drop cloth

Balloon arch

Cut tree trunk from cardboard

Start this tropical party décor DIY by creating a palm tree trunk from cardboard.

Find the middle of your piece of cardboard and mark the center axis with a pencil.
Measure 24” across the bottom (left to right), 5 feet up (top to bottom) and 6 inches at the top (left to right).
Measure and mark 8” up from the center of the 24” base. Mark 12” (from left to right) along that 8” center line.
Connect the outside point of the 12” (from step c) to the 24” (in step b) from top to bottom in a diagonal line.
Draw a long diagonal line from the 12” (from step c) to the 6” (in step b) from top to bottom.

Finally, cut out your cardboard tree trunk. Once cut, trace this trunk onto another piece of cardboard so that you are left with 2 identical cardboard tree trunks. Notch your tree trunks halfway by cutting out 2 strips down the center of the tree trunks from top to bottom. This is so that your tree trunks can slide in and fit together.

Cut palm leaves from cardboard

Next, cut out the palm tree leaves for your tropical party décor. Cut out oblong shapes with a pointed tip at one end and a straight edge on the other. You’ll need to create at least 5 of these leaf shapes, or more for a fuller tree. Cut 5-7 notches in your leaves to make them look more like palm branch leaves.

Prime and spray paint the cardboard leaves

Prime and spray paint the cardboard leaves

Place your cardboard palm leaves and tree trunk onto a drop cloth or other protective surface cover in a well-ventilated area and get ready to paint! Prime both sides of the cardboard pieces with COLORSHOT White Primer and allow to dry completely. Create a two-toned look for your tropical party décor by spray painting half of each leaf with Cash and the other With a Twist. Spray paint the tree trunk with Lucky Penny for a lovely rose gold metallic base!

Prime and spray paint the cardboard leaves

Prime and spray paint the cardboard leaves

Oh Yay Studio also created a colorful balloon arch with matching leaves for her tropical party décor! Place faux tropical leaves onto your drop cloth, then prime and paint with your desired colors. For this project, we used Cosmo, Summer Pedicure, Orange Slice, Treasure Chest, Island Girl, Mermaid, and Scuba to make super colorful leaves!

Prime and spray paint the cardboard leaves

Prime and spray paint the cardboard leaves

It’s time to assemble your tropical party décor! Cut a circle about 7” in diameter glue a 3” strip of cardboard around the outer edge. You can spray paint this piece as well, but it will mostly be hidden by the cardboard leaves. Glue the circle to the top of the tree trunk and cut slits into the leaves so that they can slide into the side walls. Continue assembling the leaves to fill your cardboard palm tree.

Tropical party décor display

Carefully place the spray-painted leaves into your balloon arch and display your DIY tropical party décor! These lush decorations look perfect next to a dessert table full of summer sweets!

Get ready for summer with COLORSHOT! Will you be making your own tropical party décor with spray paint? Show us your colorful projects and tag us on social media @mycolorshot!