El confeti, papelillo, chaya o papel picado es un elemento festivo propio de la Navidad o del carnaval consistente en pequeñas piezas de papel de colores, brillantes o mates, que se lanzan al aire quedando durante un tiempo suspendidas para dar un tono festivo a la celebración. La palabra viene del italiano confetti, pequeños dulces hechos de almendras y azúcar, usualmente como regalos de matrimonio. La palabra italiana para confeti de papel es coriandoli. Originariamente, lo que se lanzaba al aire al paso de emperadores y reyes eran pétalos de flores, seguramente de ahí procede esta tradición mucho más económica de adornar las fiestas. Ya hace 5.000 años se cultivaban en la antigua China rosas con el fin de usar sus pétalos a modo de confeti. Por lo que los orígenes pudieron ser en diferentes lugares y épocas. En España el confeti tradicional usado hasta hace poco era redondo y del tamaño de una yema de dedo. En los últimos años esto ha cambiado considerablemente, y la introducción de sistemas profesionales de lanzamiento, ha permitido realizar verdaderos espectáculos con confeti y serpentinas. De tradición americana y canadiense, este confeti es circular y planea dando vueltas y produciendo una especie de coreografía y efectos visuales muy vistosos. La visualización de estos efectos por televisión a través de la copa de Europa de fútbol y la UEFA, produjo una popularización muy patente hoy en día en publicidad y todo tipo de eventos. El impacto del espectáculo de serpentinas y confetis en el chupinazo de los sanfermines durante siete años seguidos ha contribuido a popularizar este confeti. Se usa también en fiestas infantiles.

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Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at parades, sporting team winners, and celebrations, especially weddings (and game shows, following the end of a milestone or the occasion of a big win e.g.: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire). The origins are from the Latin confectum, with confetti the plural of Italian confetto, small sweet. Modern paper confetti trace back to symbolic rituals of tossing grains and sweets during special occasions, traditional for numerous cultures throughout history as an ancient custom dating back to pagan times, but adapted from sweets and grains to paper through the centuries. Confetti are made in a variety of colors, and commercially available confetti come in many different shapes. A distinction is made between confetti and glitter; glitter is smaller than confetti (pieces usually no larger than 1mm) and is universally shiny. Most table confetti are also shiny. While they are called metallic confetti they are actually metallized PVC. The most popular shape is the star. Seasonally, Snowflake Confetti are the most requested shape. Most party supply stores carry paper and metallic confetti. Confetti are commonly used at social gatherings such as parties, weddings, and Bar Mitzvahs, but are by some people considered taboo at funerals. At weddings the confetti cannon is most often used to add drama to the newlyweds first dance as man and wife. The simplest confetti are simply shredded paper (see ticker-tape parade), and can be made with scissors or a paper shredder. Other confetti often consist of chads punched out of scrap paper. A hole punch can be used to make small round chads. For more elaborate chads, a ticket punch can be used. Most pieces of paper flats will flutter as tumblewings giving flight times because of gliding aerodynamics. In recent years the use of confetti as a cosmetic addition to trophy presentations at sporting events has become increasingly common. In this case, larger strips of paper (typically measuring 20 mm × 60 mm) in the colors appropriate to the team or celebration are used. For smaller volumes of confetti, ABS or PVC "barrels" are filled and the confetti is projected via a "cannon" (a small pressure vessel) using compressed air or carbon dioxide. For larger venues or volumes of confetti, a venturi air mover powered by carbon dioxide is used to propel significantly larger volumes of confetti greater distances.

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