Tiki Totem Pole
How to make a Tiki totem pole
using a brown sheet (or piece of fabric) and fabric paint or markers:
Select a tree in the party area with a trunk that's 1 to 2 feet in diameter. Guesstimate the appropriate width and height of your totem based on the size of the tree trunk. You want the totem itself to go a little less than half way around.
Take a brown twin-size sheet, and lay it on a table like a table cloth, over a sheet of plastic to protect the table.
Use a pencil to draw the basic outlines for your tiki totem. (Unlike the illustration, the outer rectangle of the totem should not really be perfectly straight lines.)
Once you're satisfied with your drawing, go over it with fabric paint or a marker. Fill in the eyes and mouth, except for the teeth.
You can leave it a two-tone brown and black, or add color as desired.
The most important feature of the totem is the mouth. It should be big and scarey...after all, the real purpose of tiki totems is to scare away evil spirits.
When the paint is dry, and it's time to decorate for the party, wrap the sheet around the tree trunk, folding back the top and bottom which are above and below your drawing. Unless you have really long arms, this is a two-person job. You may need to wrap it more than once to get it to wrap around and face the direction you want.
Use brown thumb tacks to fasten the sheet to the tree trunk. Alternatively, you could fold the top of the sheet over some string or rope, and tie it in back. Do the same at the bottom.
Another possibility is to trim the sheet a couple of inches above and below the totem, and at the sides so that there isn't any overlap when you wrap it around the tree. Lay the sheet on the floor face down, and hot glue the rope or string to the sheet near the top and bottom edges, then roll it up (or down) a bit. If you don't have a hot glue gun, you can staple it, then roll it up a little more to cover the staples. Or sew it if you like!
Note: If you don't have a tree handy, or your party is indoors, you could paint it on plywood and lean it on a wall, or even make it on poster board, trim it to the outline, and attach it to a wall.