Posts tagged Paper

Doilies and silk ribbons combine to make graceful garlands to be draped over pews at the wedding ceremony or festooned along reception tables.

What a great way to dress up a package, a bottle of wine or any gift: a hand-crafted paper bow in this crisp red or yellow chevron pattern. Below you will find a link to download and print both the red and yellow paper bow templates. Once you have opened the pdf, simply print onto your everyday printer paper (not card stock). There is also a pdf download for a template so that you can print that on card stock, cut it out and use it as a template for  your own paper.

Once you have printed your paper bow templates,
follow the step-by-step guide below to make your packages pop!

Photo Credits: ellinee.com

You can use your marbled paper for so many things! I choose to make some cute little name cards as well as some little stir sticks.

Supplies

• Cardstock
• 4 Colors of Acrylic Paints
• Wooden Dowels
• Mini Clothespins
• String
• Water
• Liquid Starch (you can buy it right near the spray starch at the store)
• Alum (found in the spice aisle, used in pickling)
• Dishsoap

Step 1: The preparations

ONE mix together 2 cups of liquid starch with 1 teaspoon of alum and pour in the bottom of a cake pan.

TWO water down a little paint so that the paint is just slightly thinner.  Add a tiny drop of dish soap to it, this helps the paint to float on the starch. mix well.

THREE construct a ‘comb’ with wooden dowels cut to 2 inches, or with toothpicks.

FOUR using a paint brush, shake drops and splatters of paint onto your starch. Do this with all colors you’d like to include.

FIVE using your comb, comb the entire pan in one direction. 

SIX Then repeat in the perpendicular direction.

Carefully place your cardstock onto the top of the paper.  Lay it down starting at one corner instead of straight down so that air bubbles don’t get trapped underneath. Once the paper has made full contact, lift by one of the corners and remove from the paint/starch mixture.

Dunk the swirled paper into another pan of clean cool water (don’t worry!  The paint will stay on). Then hang on a string with clothespins over newsprint to dry.

* Photo & Design Credit: House of  Earnest

I like these simple, modern thank you cards, a free download from Love Vs. Design. They look cool printed on kraft paper, too!

Check them out here and download your own set.

(Source: zazzle.com)

I love a fun gift topper, and these little accordion hearts are both fun to receive and fun to make. I think the three dimensional aspect of it is what makes it stand out – literally.

Materials:

• Construction paper
• String
• Accordion-heart-template (Download)

ONE: trace the template on a half piece of paper

TWO: fold it – accordion style – with a fold at about each half inch.

THREE: tie the bundle right in the middle with string to secure.

FOUR: fan out each end and tape with double stick tape.

Tie or stick it onto the wrapped package of your choice and you’re ready to wow!

*Credit: House of Ernest

Guest Blog by: Jessica Jones

 It only takes a minute to make simple origami arrows. They can be used as magnets to hold up your stuff.

I added self-adhesive magnet tape to these, available from craft stores. You could also chop up some of those free magnets that come in the mail with advertisements on them and glue those on.

The arrows can also be turned into thumbtacks for your pin board.

Lift up the arrow head flap, poke a tack through the paper, and stick the head back down on top

How to fold a paper arrow:

 Start with a square piece of paper. Origami paper is easiest to fold because it’s thin. If you don’t mind a bit of wrestling, you can also use regular printer paper like I did for the red and orange arrows. Those were made from 3” squares. The patterned purple arrows were made from 2.5” squares.

I’ll add captions below each photo.

With the pretty side down, fold a square paper in half and open it again. (Or as Maria suggested in the comments, just press a little pinch to mark the center. Then your finished arrow won’t have a crease running through the center.)

With the pretty side down, fold a square paper in half and open it again. (Or as Maria suggested in the comments, just press a little pinch to mark the center. Then your finished arrow won’t have a crease running through the center.)

 Fold the top and bottom edges inward to meet the center crease.

 

Fold the pointed end over.


 

Turn the paper over so the point is hidden, then align it so that the point is positioned like the pink line in the diagram (though the point is on the underside and not visible.) Grab the top edge of the rectangle and fold it down, making a valley fold along the dotted line. 

The result should look like this. Half of the pointed triangle is exposed.


 

Rotate the paper 90 degrees counterclockwise. (Well, you don’t have to, but I found it easier and that’s what the photos show!) Press down with your fingernail at the point where the top layer of paper meets the triangle. Poke your other finger in between the two layers of the flap to open up a little pocket, at the same time folding the long top edge of the flap down to meet the center crease. 

Squash the resulting triangle flat.

It should look like this.


 

Repeat on the bottom side, folding the bottom edge upward to meet the center crease.

It should look like this.


 

This is a simple, geometric Christmas tree card made from solid-color papers. To make your own, download the file right here.

You could use just a white sheet of cardstock to make this. Or, if you want contrasting colors, do what I did:

Print the template at 100% on white cardstock. (This makes a 4.25” x 5.5” folded card to fit a standard A-2 announcement envelope.)

Then glue a colored sheet of light-weight paper to the back of the cardstock. I used a Xyron machine and some cheap Astrobright paper from Office Max. You could also use spray adhesive to glue the colored paper to the white cardstock. Or better yet, find cardstock that’s already two colors; wouldn’t that be nice?

Next, cut along the printed lines with a sharp craft knife, slicing all the way through both sheets of paper. Try to keep to the outside of the triangles so any printed lines will be hidden when the flaps are folded down.

Then cut out the card.

Fold the pointed flaps down to form the tree and fold the card in half.

If you write inside the card, your message will show through the holes in the front. So if you like, add a second sheet of colored paper to write your message inside.

Cut matching paper to 8.5” x 5.5”, fold it in half, and use a strip of double stick tape to secure it to the inside back panel of the card.

If the triangles won’t stay flat enough for your liking, lay a heavy book on the card for a little while to press the flaps open.

I like how the cutouts create shadows and a 3D look.


* Design Credits: How About Orange

(Source: zazzle.com)

With all the endless emails, texts, tweets, and “pokes” flying around these days, I’ve found my appreciation for simple handmade cards growing stronger. I always keep a stock of blank stationery on hand so I can quickly whip up personalized little notes to send off to friends and family.

It is very easy to make your own notes with wallpaper or gift wrap.

What you’ll need:

• scraps of wallpaper (or giftwrap)
• blank notecards and envelopes
• scrap paper for template
• pencil
• metal ruler
• rubber cement
• x-acto blade and cutting mat

Unfold a blank card and trace around it on the backside of your wallpaper. Subtract 1/8” from each side and cut out.

Apply rubber cement to both the backside of the wallpaper and the outside of the card and carefully adhere them together. Place a heavy book on top while the glue sets.

To make the envelope liner, open the flap of the envelope and trace around it on a piece of scrap paper. subtract 1/8” from all sides and cut out your template.

Trace around the template on the backside of your wallpaper, and cut out your piece.

Apply rubber cement to both the backside of the wallpaper and the inside of the envelope and carefully adhere the wallpaper inside the envelope. Place under a heavy book while the glue sets.