Paper Icicles for Frozen Ceiling Decoration

Inspired by this art installation and the movie Frozen, I created this ceiling decoration for the holiday season. The whole thing took 2-3 hours to create, so it's thankfully quick in addition to being inexpensive and beautiful.

It's also a lot safer to be under than real icicles...

And it solved my dilemma of what to put in the guest bathroom without having to go out and buy something! Huzzah!

Step 1: Gather Materials

You will need:

• White paper
  Note: I'm using legal size printer paper, but a roll of white craft paper would like be better due to splicing. Splicing doesn't really show unless it's backlit, and thankfully none of mine are.
• Straight edge
• Pencil
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Tape

Step 2: Cut Triangle

Fold your paper in half lengthwise and mark a diagonal line.

Note: You want to keep this quite narrow relative to the length.

Cut along the line and erase any remaining pencil marks.

Step 3: Glue

Fold the cut edges over approximately ¼-½" (1 cm).

Run the glue stick over the top folded edge.

Pull the paper apart and press the glued edge down.

Run the glue stick over the remaining flap and press down.

Step 4: Trim

Snip off the tip to create a crisp angle.

Open and fold, connecting the folded seams together.

Trim the open end to make a crisp line.

Trim down each edge approximately ½-¾" (1 cm).

Fold back each wing. This is what you'll attach to the ceiling.

Step 5: Crumple

Crumble up the paper and open again.

Note: Blowing into the icicle helps.

Note: You do not need to crumble and can opt for geometric icicles instead. Crumpling helps it look more natural, and it also helps to cover various sins.

Step 6: Attach

Keeping the seam to the back, attach each wing to the ceiling using a small piece of tape.

Note: When installing these, work from largest to smallest and fill in as needed. My largest icicle is 4 sheets of legal size copy paper spliced together for a finished length of 4' (approximately 1¼ m).

If your icicles don't disappear into your ceiling, you can add a "shield"/banner of small icicles/pennants as was done in the inspiration piece.

Comments

[VivianaM9]

Wow k medidas usas pliss

[AngryRedhead]

I think the longest one was about 2.5 feet.

[Stiener]

Hi,what kind of tape did you use that doesn't rip paint off the ceiling but still holds?
I've made them and they look great but keep falling down. Tried masking tape and white electrical tape, I know gaffer would do it but will also take off the paint!
Thanks

[AngryRedhead]

I just used reg Scotch tape. It didn't pull paint in this installation, but if it had, I would've touched it up with a bit of generic white ceiling paint which is a little bit of a chore.

If the icicles are still falling, then the paper might be too heavy, or there's too much paper. Sticking with light paper or even trying tissue paper would be great. If you try tissue paper, which I haven't, you might need your seams to be jagged or at angle to mask them better in the crumple.

[jamielynnj21]

What do you mean by splicing?
How would you recommend connecting the multiple sheets of paper to get the 4 ft length icicle?

[AngryRedhead]

The splicing is just gluing, and I used a simple Elmer's glue stick because it's fast and less mess.

[Porda]

I'm amazed how great these look with just a little crumpling. I'll have to surprise my Frozen obsessed girlfriend with this in our apartment.

[AngryRedhead]

I'm sure she'd love it! If you can only do short stints of making these, gluing and trimming the icicles takes the most time, and they can be easily hidden until you have enough to do a full display. :D

[mikeasaurus]

I couldn't tell they were paper at first. Brrr...it looks cold in there :)

[AngryRedhead]

Thanks! I'm glad the illusion was believable. :)

[pr0crast1nate]

really cool! for an alternative mounting idea, you could put a bit of wire in an arch inside the top of the icicle and then use a small 3M Command hook on the ceiling. If the wire were the right length, it would look seamless!

[AngryRedhead]

Thanks! I'm not sure how much time anyone would want to put into these because storing them would be a nightmare (mine will be going to the recycling bin), but feel free to try! You could definitely give yourself some wiggle room by crumpling the top onto itself and expanding as necessary. :)

[williamb1029]

How exactly did you combine the multiple icicles?

[AngryRedhead]

I took a rough measurement of how long the longest one should be, made it, and attached it. Then I made the smaller sizes, attaching as I made them. In total (for a 17" x 17" space) there are 14 icicles: 1 extra long, 2 long, 5 medium, and 6 short.

Basically, it's a lot of eyeballing and filling in as needed, and attaching with tape, it's easy enough to reposition if one isn't just right. :)

[filip74321]

very nice and simple project, but also looks amazing :)

[AngryRedhead]

I know... I mean!! Thanks! :)

[seamster]

Whoa, cool!

At first glance I thought these were multi-faceted a la this instructable. But the crumple/blow it up method looksso much easier!

Very nice work!

[AngryRedhead]

Thanks! If you look at the inspiration piece, you'll see that it's multi-faceted, but who has the time for that when guests are coming over tomorrow? :P

[seamster]

I took a look at that... and I like yours better!

Simpler to make, and a better-looking finished product. Win win!

[AngryRedhead]

Whoa...

Wait a minute...

That person got a commission!

Ah well... :P