DIY Fire Truck Themed Party Decor ~ Fire Station Backdrop!
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I wanted to create something special to transform our living room into a fire truck themed celebration for my little boy’s 3rd birthday! A cold January day in upstate New York meant we needed to brighten things up a bit! Throwing a birthday party within a week of hosting Christmas also meant I wasn’t up for starting any major projects 🙂 This backdrop came together pretty quickly – and required no painting. Mama doesn’t have time to mess with that and keep the babies out of wet paint!
here’s how I made this fire station backdrop
materials
- white foam board (40″ x 60″)
- project display board (36″ x 48″)
- brown poster board (22″ x 28″) (3)
- white poster board (22″ x 28″) (2)
- red kraft paper roll
- rustic bell
- mini LED lanterns
- leather or upholstery tack pins
- black & gold letter stickers
- hot glue gun or glue stick
- tape
- gorilla glue
- tape measure
- black marker
- straight edge (yard stick, large paper or a box work well)
- scissors
- utility knife (or something to cut through foam board)
- pencil
- spray adhesive
step-by-step
click here for a quick video of the process
- cover the large foam board with red paper (I wrapped mine around the back & taped it)
- cut one side off the project display board, and wrap these pieces with the red paper as well. place off to the side.
- cut the doors out of the white poster board paper (I chose to have an arch at the top, but you can make them however you want! I looked at some clip art pictures of fire stations to find a door design I liked)
- using a straight edge & black marker, draw your door design.
- attach the paper doors to your red foam boards (I used my hot glue gun, but any kind of glue would work)
- to make the arch window; make a dot about 12″ from the top of the white door, then on the same plane, make dots 6.5″ from each side of the main building. use a straight edge to connect the dots. this line is the bottom of the window. next, measure 4″ down from the top of the wall and make a dot. this will be the top point of the arch. using a string tied to a pencil, or just free-handing it – draw your semicircle connecting the top dot to the bottom line.
- cut out the arch window with utility knife
- attach the bell to the top of the window using an upholstery tack & some gorilla glue. lay to dry for time indicated on bottle.
- fold brown poster board in half the long way, and cut so you have two identical pieces. repeat with both brown papers – these will be the roof pieces.
- glue brown roof pieces to the tops of your buildings
- place your letter stickers under the window. (I measured 7″ in from each side of the main building and made a straight line with a pencil to help me with the placement of the stickers)
- next I measured 4″ from each side of the main building and placed upholstry tacks to hang the lanterns. I put some gorilla glue on each tack before I put it in the foam board to give it extra strength.
- let the project sit overnight for glue to set
- place the project upright once glue has set, and use the spray adhesive to attach the 3 wall pieces together. let dry for time indicated on bottle.
- finally the best part – hang the mini lanterns, and you are finished!
Check out this blog post for all the details of this fire truck themed birthday party I planned for my son, on a budget. If you love DIY decor, here is how I made the cardboard box burning building decorations!
I’d love to help make your next celebration feel special ~ visit Style My Party for party styling packages, or send me a message with any questions!
