This DIY backdrop is easy, affordable, and you can make it in less than 10 minutes! With just 4 items needed, you’ll feel like a do-it-yourself whiz when you put this together for your next party.

Once upon a time, we lived in a 400 square foot NYC apartment.

It was in a beautiful pre-war building with a view of the George Washington Bridge and a diner downstairs, and it was the absolute best. But it was, in fact, teeny-tiny.

That didn’t stop us from having parties though, and smushing a good 25 people in there to sit on any available surface and have a ball.

And it didn’t stop us from having photo backdrops at our parties either!

Psst — before I share the backdrop, be sure to add your info below so that I can include you in my VIP group! I’ll send more of my best DIYs and ideas straight to ya.

DIY Backdrop for Party Photos

This particular DIY backdrop was born for our second annual holiday party, because our theme was a bit kitschy and I wanted to have a super-sparkly, borderline-tacky backdrop.

It actually turned out to create some fantastic photos, so I decided to share on the blog because it was so shockingly easy to create.

This one would be perfect to set up for a kids’ or teens’ party and let them go to town with a camera or smartphone!

Other (Fancier) DIY Backdrops

If you’ve been around here for a while (can you believe Lovely Indeed will turn 14 this year?!) I’ll bet you already know that we specialize in photo backdrops in these parts.

In fact, we’ve got a huge array of backdrop ideas in our archives — some like this, which only take a few minutes, and some much more elaborate and fancy.

I took a moment to round up a few that I think you’ll love. Be sure to pin them so that you can find them easily again when you need some inspiration!

Why Have a Photo Backdrop at a Party?

Yes friend, you absolutely can take wonderful photos at a party or gathering without making a DIY backdrop for yourself and your guests.

Of course you can.

But what I love about having a photo backdrop at a party is that it makes documenting the event an actual activity. It becomes part of the action in an intentional, special way.

And at an even more basic level, it encourages people to make photographic memories in the first place!

There have been so many lovely evenings or fun parties that have completely passed me by, and I ended up regretting not having a photo to commemorate or remember them by.

Adding a photo backdrop to the mix encourages people to be silly, be spontaneous, come together, and commune in a new and very fun way.

What You’ll Need

An armful of tinsel garland (dollar stores are awesome for this!)
A dowel or pole of some sort
Twine or some pretty ribbon
Thin wire or twist ties

How to Make this DIY Backdrop

Get your pole, curtain rod, or (like me) detach the handle from your broom. No joke. This is my broom handle. I made this so long ago it was before I had access to many supplies, so I used what I had!
Cut tinsel garland into 7-foot lengths. This will make a backdrop that’s about 3.5 feet tall. If you’d like it to be taller, cut longer lengths of tinsel. Now that we use mainly smartphones and photos are often vertical, it might be smarter to cut 10-foot lengths. But what you see here are 7-foot lengths folder in half.
Fold each length in half, and at the folded point, attach it to your broom handle by wrapping it with a small amount of wire or securing with a twist tie.
Repeat this until your wooden dowel (or broom handle) is full.
Make a hanger for your backdrop by tying either end of a length of twine or ribbon around each end of the dowel, and hang your backdrop!

Encouraging Guests to Take Photos

You did it! Easy, huh?

So once this is hung up at your party, I always recommend breaking the ice by inviting a few folks to take some selfies with you. It gets people feeling less shy to take advantage of the backdrop and starts the ball rolling.

You can also make it a game, to see who can get the weirdest photo, the most people in a single photo, the most serious photo, and on and on. Just use your imagination and let your guests do the same.

Have fun! xoxo

DIY Backdrop for Party Photos

Yield: DIY Backdrop

Active Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $20

This DIY backdrop is easy, affordable, and you can make it in less than 10 minutes! With just 4 items needed, you'll feel like a do-it-yourself whiz when you put this together for your next party.

Materials

Wooden dowel
Tinsel
Twine or ribbon
Wire or twist ties

Tools

Scissors

Instructions

Get your pole, curtain rod, or (like me) detach the handle from your broom. No joke. This is my broom handle. I made this so long ago it was before I had access to many supplies, so I used what I had!
Cut tinsel garland into 7-foot lengths. This will make a backdrop that's about 3.5 feet tall. If you'd like it to be taller, cut longer lengths of tinsel. Now that we use mainly smartphones and photos are often vertical, it might be smarter to cut 10-foot lengths. But what you see here are 7-foot lengths folder in half.
Fold each length in half, and at the folded point, attach it to your broom handle by wrapping it with a small amount of wire or securing with a twist tie.
Repeat this until your wooden dowel (or broom handle) is full.
Make a hanger for your backdrop by tying either end of a length of twine or ribbon around each end of the dowel, and hang your backdrop!

Notes

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