How to Make a Tissue Paper Backdrop for Photos or Parties

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Here’s a DIY photo backdrop that packs a major punch and can be used again and again! Create this tissue paper backdrop for your next party or photo project.

How to Make a Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop for Parties

A decade ago, we became known around these parts for our photo backdrops. Over the years, we’ve made dozens of them!

Maybe you remember a few of our greatest hits, like the streamer backdrop, the carnival ticket backdrop, or the flower wall that was so popular.

Here are a few more of our most popular posts ever:

Psst — before you dive in, be sure to sign up below for my VIP group so that I can send more of my very best ideas straight to ya!

The most IMportant Piece of Any Photo backdrop

The most important component of this project is this photo backdrop frame, which is such a great tool to have in your arsenal.

We use ours all the time in the studio, for so many various backdrops and projects. A great little investment for under $50!

You can use it for photo backdrops, for hanging items, for studio shoots, for parties, and so much more. Highly recommend.

(Since you’re here, wanna see our most popular photo backdrop of all time?)

How to Make a Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop for Parties
How to Make a Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop for Parties

Moving the Tissue Paper Backdrop

A few notes. We’ve gotten lots of questions about moving the backdrop.

I think it would probably be the easiest to make this project in the location where it will ultimately be displayed.

That being said, if you absolutely need to create this tissue paper backdrop offsite, this is probably the best way to do it:

  1. Create the backdrop as described below.
  2. Then, cut the chicken wire free from the frame and gently roll it up with the tissue facing the center of the roll.
  3. Cover it with a sheet or a tarp for transportation, and then once at the location, reattach it to the frame with zip ties. You’ll most likely lose some pieces of tissue paper along the way, but they’ll be simple enough to stuff back in.

Supplies You’ll Need

Materials

How to Make a Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop for Parties

How to Make a Tissue Paper Backdrop for Parties

Make Time: 3 Hours

  1. Start by cutting your tissue paper. We used 6 packages of tissue paper that each had 48 sheets, 20×30 inches. We cut each sheet into quarters.
  2. Set up your photo backdrop so that it’s at least 8 feet tall and 7 feet wide. Cut your chicken wire to your desired size (our backdrop was 7 feet by 5 feet). Attach the chicken wire to the frame with zip ties, placing a zip tie every foot or two along all edges.
  3. Decide the color arrangement that you’d like for your tissue paper. We did an ombré arrangement, but the sky’s the limit, so use your imagination! Plan accordingly depending on where you would like each color. Start stuffing your tissue! We found it easiest to grab the tissue in the middle of the piece, pinch/twist in the middle, and stuff that into the chicken wire. Once the piece is firmly tucked into one of the holes in the chicken wire, fluff up the outer pieces of the tissue paper so that they’re full and ruffly.
  4. Continue stuffing! As you work, it helps a lot to step back and look at the backdrop as a whole to get some perspective. Let that guide your color decisions, and keep stepping back every so often to make sure it’s taking shape in the way that you want it to. Keep stuffing tissue until it’s completely full!
How to Make a Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop for Parties

Will It Last?

And there you go: how to make a tissue paper backdrop for parties! We’ve had dozens of people try this project, and it turns out great every time!

When we made this tissue paper backdrop, it stood sturdy for days without falling apart. Be sure to stuff your tissue paper into the chicken wire so that it’s very secure if you plan to have a high-traffic photo area in front of it.

If you try it, be sure to send us a photo of your creation to [email protected]. And for more of our photo backdrop ideas, head right over here! xoxo

How to Make a Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop for Parties
how to make a tissue paper backdrop for parties

Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop

Yield: Tissue Paper Photo Backdrop
Active Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours
Difficulty: Intermediate
Estimated Cost: $70

Here's a DIY photo backdrop that packs a major punch and can be used again and again! Create this tissue paper backdrop for your next party or photo project.

Materials

  • Tissue paper
  • Photo backdrop frame
  • Zip ties
  • Chicken wire

Tools

  • Scissors
  • Wire cutters

Instructions

  1. Start by cutting your tissue paper. We used 6 packages of tissue paper that each had 48 sheets, 20×30 inches. We cut each sheet into quarters.
  2. Set up your photo backdrop so that it's at least 8 feet tall and 7 feet wide. Cut your chicken wire to your desired size (our backdrop was 7 feet by 5 feet). Attach the chicken wire to the frame with zip ties, placing a zip tie every foot or two along all edges.
  3. Decide the color arrangement that you'd like for your tissue paper. We did an ombré arrangement, but the sky's the limit, so use your imagination! Plan accordingly depending on where you would like each color. Start stuffing your tissue! We found it easiest to grab the tissue in the middle of the piece, pinch/twist in the middle, and stuff that into the chicken wire. Once the piece is firmly tucked into one of the holes in the chicken wire, fluff up the outer pieces of the tissue paper so that they're full and ruffly.
  4. Continue stuffing! As you work, it helps a lot to step back and look at the backdrop as a whole to get some perspective. Let that guide your color decisions, and keep stepping back every so often to make sure it's taking shape in the way that you want it to. Keep stuffing tissue until it's completely full!

Notes

A few notes. We've gotten lots of questions about moving the backdrop.

I think it would probably be the easiest to make this project in the location where it will ultimately be displayed.

That being said, if you absolutely need to create this tissue paper backdrop offsite, this is probably the best way to do it:

  1. Create the backdrop as described below.
  2. Then, cut the chicken wire free from the frame and gently roll it up with the tissue facing the center of the roll.
  3. Cover it with a sheet or a tarp for transportation, and then once at the location, reattach it to the frame with zip ties. You'll most likely lose some pieces of tissue paper along the way, but they'll be simple enough to stuff back in.

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141 Comments

  1. This is AWESOME! I needed an idea for a photo booth backdrop, so this is perfect. Thank you for sharing!

    xx
    youngmildandfree.wordpress.com

  2. I love you bougies so much that my eyes popped out of my face from all the cute overload and love. AMAZING video and WONDERFUL project!

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  8. I’m definitely doing this for my wedding. Thanks for the inspiration! I did have a question – how many sheets of tissue paper did you need? i’m looking at 48 sheets that are 20×30. would 3 of these be enough or do you think more?

    1. Hi Dzung! Glad you like it! I think you might need a little more than three packages of 48 sheets. Maybe 5 or so? It depends on how full you’d like to the backdrop to be, but you can’t go wrong with more. If you don’t have enough tissue you’ll end up having holes and being able to see through the backdrop. I’d say try 5 packages and cut the 20×30 sheet into quarters so it makes 4 sheets each. Hope that helps!

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  11. Congrats ! It’s amazing !
    I would like to Know how long does it take you to perform this beautiful tissue paper photobooth.
    Thank’s

  12. Very cute idea! I want to do this for a birthday party but I don’t know where to get that much tissue paper for the cheapest. Any Suggestions?

  13. I feel in love with this backdrop.. I just had to make it!! I ended up doing so for my cousins baby shower and everyone loved it! The hardest part for me was having to make it at home and then transporting it to the venue!
    I would love for you to check out the picture of it and tell me what you think!

      1. Hi Josellen! We set ours up on location, but I think you could probably set it up and then roll the chicken wire in on itself for transport. I would wrap it in a sheet or something similar to avoid losing tissue paper. Thanks!

  14. I LOVE you this idea. Just wondering how you transported this to the final site. Does the tissue paper fly out/fall out when it’s moved around?

  15. Hi there, this is a great DIY tutorial! I am in love with this idea and really wanting to do this for my son’s upcoming 2nd birthday party. I was just wondering what you used for the photo frame work? Thanks for your time.

  16. Hi there, just wondering how many packages of tissue paper this took give or take? I’ll be using the same backdrop stand and will be making the it the same size. Just not sure if I’ve got enough tissue paper as I can’t put it together until the day of the event. Just want to see if I’m in the ball park with the amount I have. Thanks!

    1. Hey Joe! I’d love to see the finished product! The link doesn’t seem to be working — is there another link I can try? Thanks! xo

  17. Hey there! This was such an awesome video. I was trying to create this look from colored coffee filters and plywood until I saw this and was Blown away by how simple materials could create such a statement backdrop. Hats off to you guys for sharing such creativity. Where were you able to get such a beautiful color palette of tissue paper from? Do you mind sharing the colors used in the video? I a. Trying to creating a similar palette?

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  19. Hi there! i absolutely love this and I have a 4 by 5 ft frame i was wondering how big should i cut the squares and how many packages i need of each tissue paper. Thanks!! 🙂

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  21. hi! I did this over my garage wall, it was huge and it looked reeeeeaaally good!
    It was for my 90s bday bash (that’s why I used so many colors), so eventually the tissue paper fell off, but it still looked good.

    thanks for this idea!
    here are some pictures:
    http://jeduardoc.tumblr.com/post/118450741779

  22. Looks so cool! I think I’m going to try this for my college apartment–a great but cheap look on a budget. I was thinking a metal clothing rack would work really well…or just the chicken wire itself on a custom wooden frame to create more permanent art. A couple dabs of hot glue should keep the tissue paper from falling out.

    Thanks for the cool idea!!!

  23. Hi i would like to create the same size back drop for my wedding, how much tissue paper is needed please? As can’t do i till on the day but worried I wont have enough. Thanks

    1. Hi Gemma! Unfortunately, I don’t have details on how many pieces exactly I used of each color. I just kind of stuffed until it looked good! I purchased the tissue paper at a party store, but a good place online to look might be at Papermart. They have a great selection of colors and various size packs. I would suggest getting a whole bunch of mini packs (maybe 15 or 20?) just to be on the safe side. Then, once you have the sheets in the mini pack that are 30″ x 20″, you can cut the sheets into quarters, and stuff them into the backdrop. That would probably work well. Be sure to send photos of the finished product, I’d love to see it!

  24. This is great! Just wondering if you know what gauge chicken wire you used. I’m planning on making this backdrop this weekend for a party and didn’t know if 1 inch was too small or 2 inch was too big haha. Thanks in advance!

  25. Hello,

    I too am wondering of the size for the chicken wire. If anyone who has previously constructed this can make a recommendation, I would appreciate it very much as well as any tips for transportation.

    Thank you !!

    1. Hey there! 1 inch chicken wire should do it. Also, I don’t have experience with transporting the backdrop but I know some folks have stuffed the chicken wire, rolled it gently, and wrapped it in a sheet for transportation. You may have some pieces fall out but you can do touchups when you arrive at your destination!

  26. This is awesome! I am wondering did you diy the base or did you buy it? If bought, what is it called? Also, where can I purchase chicken wire?

    1. Hi Reecey! The base is a photo backdrop frame from Cowboy Studio; you can find it on Amazon. And for chicken wire, I’d head to your nearest hardware store!

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  28. What other colours do you think would look good. My birthday colour scheme is pastel colours and I need colours that would work well together.

  29. This is awesome ! I am going to do this on my wedding feast.
    However, it’s hard for me to get such colorful tissue paper in Asia.
    Is there any brand for me to search easily ?
    or maybe an on-line market to purchase?

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  43. How much tissue paper did you use for this background? I don’t see where you tell us how much to get!

    1. Hi HCC! We used 6 packages of tissue paper that each had 48 sheets, 20×30 inches. We cut each sheet into quarters. Hope that helps!

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  50. I love this idea, and I love the way you present it. I was browsing Pinterest for backdrop ideas and I clicked on a pin from BuzzFeed about “32 Unbelievably Cheap And Beautiful DIY Photo Backdrops” from several years ago . As I scrolled down a picture of your backdrop appeared. I loved the colors so I looked closer. To my surprise I realized that I know that handsome guy in the photo. Your husband Ryan went to high school with my son Andy. This backdrop won’t work for what I need but I will keep it mind for next time. I can’t wait to check out the rest of your site

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  54. You guys are doing an amazing job. I wish you the best of luck for your next projects

  55. I love the concept of using a tissue paper to made such a beautiful tool to capture pictures otherwise in general people use tissue to wipe the dirt! Wow that’s amazing. This is wonderful tools to capture your pictures with stunning and wondrous background and frame. the beautiful background increases your photo attractions but this is little embarrassing for those who have no money to purchase the material to create these kind of tools. So here is a platform named as ( bagark.com ) where no need of investment. They platform have many photo editing applications for your android smartphones and you can also download many filters and so many tools and photo frames for your pictures this platform also offer free games and so many applications. This platform offers all applications free of cost. So am going to share the link of this all in all application with you guys go and check it out by yourself. Click the link below:
    https://bagark.com/

  56. The best method for background. You guys are doing an amazing job. Wish you the best of luck with your upcoming projects

  57. What an elegant background. Definitely, I am going to try this. Thanks for your efforts. how much tissue paper?

  58. I won’t lie, that looks dope actually. How did you come up with a cool idea like that? Seriously, it adds that character to your photos, obviously the vibe of the photo depends upon the person as well, but still, it looks awesome. I love the vibrant theming, it’s just perfectly going with everything else. As of now, I’m growing sunflowers in my backyard, I want to recreate an old photo of my Family. It’ll probably take some time, but definitely, I’ll do it.
    If you’re curious how long does it take for sunflowers to grow, then check out this post over here:
    https://exactlyhowlong.com/how-long-does-it-take-for-sunflowers-to-grow-and-why/

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  62. What a creative and unique DIY idea for a parade float photobooth backdrop! 🎉📸 The use of custom poly mailers as a building material is so innovative and resourceful. The colorful and personalized design of the custom poly mailers adds a fun and vibrant touch to the backdrop, making it truly one-of-a-kind. It’s amazing how everyday items like poly mailers can be repurposed in such creative ways. This DIY project is not only budget-friendly but also allows for customization and personalization to match any event or theme. Kudos for creating a stunning and unique photobooth backdrop! 👏🎨 #DIYParadeFloatPhotoboothBackdrop #CustomPolyMailers #CreativeRepurposing