Paper Parties, by Erin Hung. Review.

Paper Parties

Over 50 paper projects for the perfect party

By Erin Hung

Pavilion Books, May 2017

Hardback, £16.99

ISBN 978 1911216254

Star rating: ***1/2

This very appealing papercraft party book, by designer/entrepreneur Erin Hung, is filled with simple, inventive makes. Most of the projects are smile-inducing ideas that are not difficult to execute, ideal for the fledgling paper crafter or the time-challenged party-giver. (The projects are given difficulty star ratings, but there are none that require consummate skill or even much previous papercrafting experience.)  There is plenty of variety – pleated paper, paper flowers, fringed projects, modular origami, and a few template-dependent creations.

The format of the book is LookBook upfront, step-by-step how-tos in back. There’s a reduced-size template section, too. This format is user-friendly – perfect for having a browse over a cup of tea. The how-tos are clear and conversational, with friendly project intros. 

In the first spread, there are ginormous sweet wraps  - bigging up or miniaturizing often works a treat when it comes to papercrafting party makes! The Ice Cream Cone Messages, with fluffy scoop of tissue paper ice cream on top would be ideal for a kids’ party, as would the oh-so-simple Ice Lolly Party Invitations. There are sweet and simple ideas like the You’re a Star Card – a shooting star depicted with fringed tissue paper (good timing with current Perseid star showers). Some of the ideas are ideal kids’ crafts – like the Cupcake Anemones (fashioned  from pleated cupcake cases), and the Astronaut Messages (spaceships with a message payload). The projects show an appreciation of colour and texture, and yes, plenty of glitz. A good mix of papers are utilized : tissue, giftwrap, crepe paper, print, plain, metallic.

There was an instance where I hoping a photo prop would be an project. The cake stands for the mini-doughnuts  (Doughnuts about You project), made up in card,  would have been a super template-based papercraft. 

There’s an excellent Floral Basics tutorial, to get you up to speed on paper flower-making. This is accompanied by several fun follow-up projects: A Floral Letter (new take on the jumbo initial trend), Flower Power Party Poppers (supercute fun floral  fancy dress for regulation-issue bottle-shaped poppers), Frida Kahlo Flower Crown,  Floral Bomb Pinata, and Giant Flower Decor.

The hardcover format of this title makes it a very giftable.

Note: I was given a review copy of this title.