Paper Crafts

This is another one of those recycling crafts that many of us have done lots of times in the past. We have revisited this craft to remind all that it is still well worth doing.

It reminds me of when I was a primary school teacher and I covered lots of washing powder boxes with wallpaper to make sturdy holders for readers and exercise books. Now I am studying all the boxes before I put them in the fire or the recycling bin to see if they are a handy size for storage. These ones are perfect for all the odd bit of paper we have left-over after our paper crafts for children activities and also apparently just right for comics.

Start with a cereal box – first of all you need to put a small amount of the cereal in a bowl, add some milk and then eat it – repeat until all the cereal is gone. If you transfer your cereal to another container then please feel free to omit this first step. You should end up with an empty box.

From one side cut a ‘scoop’ out of one corner. Keep the card that you cut off and use it on the other side as a template to make sure both sides match.

Cut out the other side so you have an opening in one corner.

Find some paper to recycle, it can be some artwork that is no longer needed, magazine pictures, wallpaper, or as we have done – Christmas paper. You just need to make sure the paper is nice and big so that it can cover the entire box. Glue a side of the box at a time and glue the paper on. When you get to the cut out open section it is easier to fold the paper over the edge if you cut the section to be folded into strips. This makes it easier to glue down and results in a nice tidy edge.

Finally buy some more cereal and some more comics so you can start on the next one.

Simple materials are used to make this effective and arty paper craft for Valentines Day.

We cut out a heart shape from some cardboard and then just experimented with different colors of crayons, different colors of paper and different colors of dye. These crayoned outlines were made by crayoning back and forth around the edge of the heart. You could also just trace around and around the shape. Then paint in, around or all over the shape with some paper dyes, food coloring or runny paint. The crayon will resist the liquid and give the lovely contrasts you see here. It is a lot of fun deciding what combinations to try. Then you can make a lot of cards for all those Valentines! I quite like them as a group though, so perhaps I could make just one large card for just one Valentine!!

Shiny, sparkly and pretty too – perfect for any princess.

The tin foil can be a bit tricky for little hands to cope with but they can help with it, they can enjoy the fun of decorating the tiara once the basic shape is made and then of course they can wear it.

The tin foil creates the sparkle, but pipe cleaners are what create the structure. Cut one strip of foil slightly longer than the pipecleaner. Roll the pipecleaner in the tin foil and then squish the foil around the pipecleaner.

Shape the foil covered pipecleaner into a curve.

Cut three pipecleaners in half. Keep five of the six halves and cover each one in foil by rolling it in foil slightly longer than the pipecleaner and squeezing it firmly. Fold the halves in half gently so you don’t split the foil.

Attach the folded halves to the curved piece by wrapping the ends over the curve. You must do this gently as the tin foil will split if you are too rough.

Decorate with stars, gems or glitter.

It took my daughter to remind me of the most essential of the paper crafts for children!

It is the craft that has no step by step process, no templates to print out, or no list of special materials! It is just playing with a pile of materials and using your imagination to make stuff. Just put a collection of craft materials on the table and sit down and see where they take you.

From some things that I had lying around my daughter created these corrugated card board creatures. I think they are fabulous!

Hand prints are the starter for so many different critters and creatures. I have selected three of my favorite to show here – first featured in a newsletter last year.

No instructions needed for these creations, just make your hand print and use the pictures as a guide.

	It is probably not normal to be excited about being able to make super cute elephants out of hand prints, but I was very excited when we made these. The hand print makes the perfect elephant shape once you add a few details.
	The fish is very popular in hand print art circles! It is very easy for a child to add just a few details to their hand print and they have a fish. Make a tropical fish by painting a pattern on the hand before printing it.
	Another classic hand print, and for a very good reason. What a perfect way to tug at heart strings!

My apologies for the hold up to this months newsletter! I have been busy working on a new years gift to my subscribers.

It is almost finished!! I am very excited, and a little nervous about it – I hope all you subscribers will love it and get lots of use from it – you will soon find out. The next Paper Crafts for Children Newsletter is not too far away now. Thank you for your patience!