DIY Copper Pipe Bunting (and Bedroom Sneak Peak!)

If you read Monday’s post, you’ve already seen a sneak peak of our bedroom… but it hardly counted- this definitely counts! This DIY Copper Pipe Bunting was crazy easy to make, I bought the pipe to make it probably a month ago and left it sitting for a day that I had enough time. Turns out, I didn’t need too much time! I love the way it looks against our navy bedroom walls. Those nails were in the wall from my driftwood garland and I honestly can’t decide which I like better over our bed! I do love the look of mixed metals, but the driftwood has been there for almost a year and I’ve gotten so used to having it there. Sometimes I feel like our walls play musical chairs with all the decor bits I make and then can’t decide which looks best where. One of these days I’ll finish a room and post a full room tour on here for you- sound good?

Until then, let’s talk about how you can make your very own Copper Pipe Bunting! Here’s what you’ll need:

• One 1/4″ Copper Tubing Coil (I used a 10′ one- it was on the bottom shelf in the pipe fittings section at Home Depot… and can I just say that this much pipe is only $10!)
• One Mini Pipe Cutter (I have this one and love it)
• Measuring Tape & Whiteboard Marker
• Twine & Scissors

This DIY is pretty simple once you get started. The first thing you’ll need to do is flatten out your copper coil. This stuff is really soft and easy to bend. This is awesome but also kind of annoying, it’s like trying to uncrimp a bent pipe cleaner- impossible to make it perfect. Laying it out on the floor is the easiest way to do this.

Once you have it straightened, give it a measure to confirm how many inches long it is- mine was 120″. I decided to make my bunting 5″ per side, so marked every 5″ with a white board marker. This gave me eight triangles with three sides. Once they’re marked, you can cut them! The pipe cutters are really nifty. You just loosen it up and slide it on to the spot you’d like to cut then tighten the knob until it just touches the pipe. Spin it around the pipe, slowly tightening it every couple of spins until the pipe breaks. I made the mistake of tightening it until it was tight before trying to spin (like you would with hard copper) and since the pipe is so soft, it just dented it making it very difficult to spin.

When you’ve cut all your pipe (this is a bit time consuming, you could probably watch a short TV show), it’s time to start assembling. Grab a string or twine and thread three of your pipes on at a time. I taped the end of my twine to keep it going through the pipe without fraying too badly. When you have three pieces of pipe on, arrange them like a triangle and thread your twine back through the top pipe in the same direction. You’ll want to put this pipe along the twine far enough that you have room to add the rest of your bunting- it’s not as easy to move after this step. Continue this process until you have your bunting complete. I tied off the ends to keep it from moving, but honestly- it wasn’t going anywhere.

Now you’re ready to hang it! Oh, and just so you know, our bed is rarely made this nicely. Look at what happened when I made it today (this camera was on an interval timer):

#reallife

Beds are meant to be used, no? And yes… that’s a sock by the pillow, Aubrey loves socks and was bringing me them one by one.

I’m so in love with buntings and garlands lately- I feel like they’ve broken out of the party decor category and have become a quirky home decoration… and I love it! I now have at least one garland of some sort in my hallway, kids room, office, and master bedroom. AT LEAST one. Am I crazy? What do you think of the copper trend? Are you still crazy about it or are you moving on?

Psst: here’s some of the other garlands or buntings I’ve made:

Velvet Bunting Wall (some in my office, some in our hallway) | Driftwood Garland (in my bedroom)| Metallic Mini Honeycomb Garland (the kiddos’ room) | Sparkly NYE Garland (my office) | DIY Morse Code Garland (the kiddos room- Post coming to Ciera Design soon!) | DIY Giant Fringe Garland | DIY Book Page Bunting | DIY Giant Honeycomb Party Garland | DIY Golden Pinecone Garland | Black and Gold Mini Easter Egg Garland | Felt XO Garland | DIY Simple Leaf Garland | Felt Oh Baby Garland

You’re right… I am a bit crazy.