Blame it on our Macbook-toting, front cam selfie-taking, Snapchatting, Skyping generation, but none of us are immune to the lure of a photo booth. Awesome photo booths have the miraculous ability to take even the most mundane gathering from "meh" to "MORE!," and an at-home rendition is both highly doable and just as fun as the real thing. Your Oscar viewing party is just the time to pull out all the stops — and it's way easier than you think.
Although nobody's going to judge you for watching the Oscars in leggings and your favorite college sweatshirt, all that red carpet action has the power to awaken your latent (or not so latent) spotlight siren. Setting up a simple DIY photo booth for your Academy Awards party feeds that vanity and fills boring commercial breaks. Even Vanity Fair has been known to break out the booth at their notorious after parties. As if those guys need more attention — seriously, leave some for us normies.
But I'm not here to promote just any run-of-the-mill home photo booth. An iPhone tripod and sheet hung in the corner would work OK for the "shoot now, filter later" crowd, but these super easy props on sticks will make your corner or hallway feel way more festive. You could even try out one of these backgrounds if you're feeling ambitious. This is a very straightforward process, but I've broken it down for you to prove just how simple it can be.
What You'll Need:
- Sturdy paper — I used a pad of inexpensive watercolor paper. It just needs to be thick enough to hold up to your paint, and stand up straight once your prop is cut out. Poster board would work just as well.
- Paint — I used acrylic, but tempera or gouache would also work. It does not need to be fancy. Keep your palette simple for consistency. I chose bright red, black, white, silver, and gold.
- Paint brushes — One medium and one smaller brush for details should do the trick.
- Skewers — I had these in my kitchen, but you could also use little wooden rods that they sell at most craft stores.
- Tape
- A pencil
- Scissors
- Paint palette (optional)
- Glitter glue (optional, for accents)
1. Draw Your Shapes
The options here are limitless. Maybe some microphones (for those red carpet interviews you are clearly conducting), glasses (for reading your acceptance speech, duh), celebratory champagne, a clapboard, Oscar himself (because you're winning), or even some (very) faux diamonds.
The key here is to keep it as simple as possible. Simplify your shapes and minimize details. You'll need to paint and cut these out, and I suspect you don't want to be laboring extensively with an X-Acto knife.
2. Paint Your Props
Pour yourself a glass of wine, turn on that new Pretty Little Liars you have DVR'd, and wind down with some throwback art supplies.
3. Cut and Tape
Once your shapes have thoroughly dried, cut them out and tape your sticks to the back. If you're using skewers, tape the pointy sides up so that your guests don't end up in the ER.
4. Strike a Pose... or 47
You are officially the host/hostess with the most/mostess.
Images: Jenna Wexler (9)
