Paper Crafts

When I saw this idea I was a bit suspicious as it looked too effective for the simple steps – I thought it may have taken a long time or many practice runs to achieve this affect. But not so, it really is quite simple. Note that this is my attempt, not a child’s, but it is my first attempt.

	Pop your black paper in a box to protect the general surround from paint, or head outside. Then to make the milky way background – splatter some white paint onto a black piece of paper by flicking it on with an old toothbrush
	Start off your planets by drawing some circles on your paper and then use a rag or a piece of sponge to drag paint on in a curve. Use one color from one side and then use a different color from the other side. The colors will mix up a bit but that just adds to the effect.
	Then put this bit of paper in a box to contain the splatters, and splatter some contrasting colors onto the planets.
	Once everything is dry, cut out the planets and arrange them on the milky way for a very effective space scene. Now you just need a few space crafts or Martians.

This fabulously fishy picture was made with the crayon batik technique. The full steps for this art technique is at Paper and Crayon Batik.

In summary the steps are … - take a beautifully crayoned picture and screw it up - smooth it out reasonably flat again - brush on some watery paint or dye, something that will be resisted by the crayon - use a paper towel to soak up any excess paint or dye.

This arty paper craft for children is not just for Christmas Tree shapes, any simple shape is good for this technique.

This time of year you need heaps of decorated paper! You need it for gift tags and cards, you need it for wrapping paper, you need it for gift bags. You can even use it to make decorations with, and of course you need it to give the children something creative to do so that you have 10 minutes to pour some more brandy. on the Christmas Cake of course!

For this particular flavor of decorated paper you just need a simple shape cut out of cardboard, some paint and a dabber or paint brush. Place the shape on your paper and holding it down with one hand, dab around the edges with the dabber or paint brush in the other hand. Repeat over the page in one color. Leave it to dry and then do it all again with another color. Over lap the shapes like we have done in this one.

If you want to use this for wrapping paper and make a matching gift tag, just do one stencil shape on a separate piece of paper to go with it.

For some other festive crafts check out the Christmas Paper Crafts for Children list.

This is a fabulous way to make a beautiful pattern on some paper. If you can still find paper doilies, buy them so you can do this too!

It is a great introduction for children to the technique of screen printing as you have an already intricately cut piece of paper to use for your printing. I am sorry I do not have all the step by step photos as this is a print I did a few years ago. I was visiting a very cool site – http://creativejewishmom.com/ and saw that she had crocheted a Doily which I am so impressed by. It reminded me of my version of doily as art and I hunted though my stash of old art and found a doily print. I used to make lots of them, cut them into quarters and use them on cards.

To do the screen print you need a framed screen, a squeegee, paper, a stack of newspapers and some printing ink or paint. I just use good quality acrylic. Make a small stack of newspaper so the printing base has a little give in it. Put your clean paper on the newspaper stack. Place the paper doily on the paper and then the printing screen. Squeeze some paint on the screen, above the item to be printed, and then drag it over the doily with the squeegee. Repeat until all the white has been covered. Carefully lift the printing screen off the paper. The doily should stick to the screen enabling you to replace the paper and print again. I will take photos of the process one day!

Rattle and roll to make this spookily decorated paper.

This is a fabulously fun paper crafts for children. I have mentioned it before at Painting Paper with Balls and Marbles. This variation is perfect for a spooky theme. You start with the same balls and a box to contain the balls, but you use black paper and white paper.

Place the paper in the bottom of the box, it should fit without too much of a gap around the edges. Drip or dab some white paint on the paper for the balls to roll through. Tip in some balls and rock and roll them. The balls will leave a trail of paint where ever they go.

Now add a few spiders to scuttle across the web to see what they find.

The crafts on Paper Crafts for Children are all about having fun with paper and making fabulous things. For many of these creations, they are even more fabulous if they have been made with paper that has been hand decorated as a result of another arty crafty activity. The crafts listed here are some of the best of the paper crafts for children that are all about decorating paper.

	Blown Bubble Decorated Paper Huff and puff, and blow bubbles to create this beautiful paper.
	Plasticine Printed Paper Easy, and oh so effective, you have to try this!
	Paper and Crayon Batik So much fun, and some cool paper as well.
	Scraped Paint There are lots of ways this technique can be used to create decorated paper.
	Mirror Pictures This one has wow factor appeal to children
	Painting with Balls and Wheels Have lots of fun shake, rattling and rolling when you make this decorated paper.
	Shaving Foam Marbling A paper decorating technique that the grown ups will want to do too!