DIY Christmas Paper Cup Fairy Lights

The festive season is well and truly upon us and what better way to celebrate than with a crafty Christmas lights DIY project to get you in the party mood? Forget spending a fortune on fancy materials or scouring the shops for those hard to find bits-and-bobs; we’ve been inspired by the items in our kitchen cupboards and wrapping paper boxes, keeping it cheap, cheerful and something for the whole family to enjoy.

So with that in mind, we’ve created these super cool and super easy paper cup fairy lights and the best part about them? They took us less than ten minutes to make! So put away your purse and step away from the sewing machine, all you’ll need are a few paper cups, some wrapping paper and of course a string of our gorgeous fairy lights to create your very own DIY Christmas Paper Cup Fairy Lights in five easy steps.

The fab thing about this DIY project is that you can choose any colour or length fairy lights you fancy as long as they have LED bulbs, so you don’t run the risk of them overheating. When choosing your fairy lights for this paper cup project, opt for a string with around 15cm spacing between each LED so your paper cups sit nicely next to each other. We used our string of 10 warm white battery lights on clear cable for a soft, cosy glow, or if it’s a bold and bright look you’re going for then browse our collection of battery Christmas lighting too.

Everything you'll need for your fab paper cup Christmas Lights.

The first thing you’ll need to do is print out a template for the wrapping paper to cover your paper cup - you can find this online. Once you’ve printed this out, you can begin cutting out the shape to draw around later; we traced the outline on a piece of cardboard but you can use paper if you prefer.

Print out the paper cup template and cut around to create a cone shape.

Once you’ve printed this out, you need to draw around your template on the back of your chosen wrapping paper (we used two different patterns but you can keep it simple with one, or go crazy with ten depending on the look you’re going for). Repeat this step ten times and cut them out to wrap around your paper cups. A handy tip at this stage is making sure that the pattern on your wrapping paper is the right way up before you start cutting!

Take a paper cup and use a strip of sticky tape to secure the wrapping paper onto the cup, then wrap the paper around the cup tightly and secure that other end in place with another strip of sticky tape to create the look. You might have to carefully trim the excess wrapping paper off the top of the cup once the paper is secured in place!

Take a paper cup and use a strip of sticky tape to secure the wrapping paper onto the cup, then wrap the paper around the cup tightly and secure that other end in place with another strip of sticky tape to create the look. You might have to carefully trim the excess wrapping paper off the top of the cup once the paper is secured in place!

Mark an X at the bottom of the cup.

Then make a small hole in the bottom of the cup

Gently push the LED lights into each hole and secure in place with a strip of sticky tape, working your way along until your paper cups cover your string of lights. Finish by flicking your new and improved Christmas lights on and watch as they fill your room with a warm, festive glow.

Push your lights into the hole and secure in place with tape.

Pop every light into each paper cup and secure in place with some stick tape

Voila! A string of beautiful DIY Christmas paper cup lights!

So, there you have it, a really quick and easy way to create a beautiful decoration for that special Christmas party or a cosy night in front of the fire. You can use plain wrapping paper for a more neutral theme or go bold and bright for an eye-catching display! Hang your lights up at the window to welcome guests, along a wall or across a cupboard for the finishing touch to your winter wonderland this Christmas.

They look fabulous hung up on a wall...