I’m not one for party decor, but my sister is. During the lockdown she successfully tricked my husband into blowing up approximately 30 (I might be exaggerating a little bit) balloons for my virtual birthday party. I decided to be nice to my brother-in-law and keep the decor simple for her virtual baby shower.

An initial internet search left me disappointed. While there are prolific Animal Crossing groups across all of the social media platforms, there was not much to be found in official Animal Crossing party decor. Much of the decor I found was mostly for the older version of the game, New Leaf. They didn’t have the adorable high res graphics found in New Horizons. So I thought, I have paper, I’ve got a Cricut, let’s make something instead!

Here is a link to the Cricut project if you’d like to make this yourself! Though I used this for a baby shower, it can be customized for any occasion. The fossils and Nook leaves can be mixed and matched as well. Each pendant is about 2.5″ wide and 4″ high.

Here are the supplies I used, simply because I had these on hand. Links to the exact paper below as well:

I was inspired by the color scheme from Tom Nook’s iconic Aloha shirt. I used the White metallic paper as the base layer for each pendant. The letters and Aloha leaf use the turquoise paper for the top layer. This gave a stronger backing to the pendants since the turquoise paper was so thin.

The fossil is the only 3 layer pendant in the project. It uses the purple metallic paper as the second layer and white metallic paper as the top layer. To transfer the top layer, I used clear packing tape that I stuck on my leg once or twice to reduce the stickiness. I’m not a fancy lady.

I used regular old white Elmer’s glue to assemble everything. I put way too much glue on the fossil which caused some warping in the paper fibers. The fossil looks a little lumpy in the photo below, but it gives it a little character? The best technique I found for gluing was to open the glue nozzle part way and dab tiny drops of glue on the edges of the shapes. This let the paper sit much smoother since it didn’t absorb so much of the liquid like with the fossil.

Letter and fossil pendants. I used the fossil as an “O”.

For the Nook leaves, I couldn’t decide on the classic green Nook leaf or the Aloha leaf so I used both! As you can see, I started out with just a name banner, then decided to keep going with a “BABY” prefix. It was just too cute! #sleepisfortheweak

Lastly, I had some yarn lying around. I can’t tell you what size since I lost the label, but it was some synthetic purple yarn that fit perfectly through the 1/8″ holes! I also tried some beige yarn, but didn’t like this look as much. I think the purple really ties it together!

Beige yarn that was too warm for the color palette.
Finished product!

I love love love the metallic paper. It really elevates the banner and catches the eye. I’m so excited for my sister to see this!