Hi Craftsters!
This year I dedicated my craft time to making handmade cards for my friends and family. After searching Google images for some owly inspiration, I bought some cardstock and after lots of tracing, cutting and glueing, my cards were finished!
The snowflakes on the front are done with a shiny silver pen, as is the greeting on the inside... "Happy Whoolidays!" Haha.
The paper balls were a random idea I came up with. I had used up all the wrapping paper and was left with a sheet of heavy brown paper, and had stumbled upon a cute little tutorial on the net, and I knew it would be perfect for my Mum's tree so I quickly got to work. Assembly on these puppies is slow, it takes about 1/2 an hour to do one so I still need to finish the last two.
I knew these would be perfect because last year, my Mum finally broke away from our collection of old, eclectic and battered tree ornaments and created an entirely new theme... very organic, woodsy, with browns, creams, and muted reds and golds. She wanted to incorporate a lot of natural materials in the decoration to create something more aesthetically pleasing and environmentally conscious. I hope she likes my recycled Christmas balls!
Here's the tutorial I used.
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-make-3d-paper-ball-ornaments.htmlI don't know if I just didn't read it properly, but I found it to be lacking information on the assembly, so here's what I did.
1. Print one page of 12 shapes for the small ball (baseball sized).
2. Cut out one shape, trace onto cardstock and use that one for tracing.
3. Trace a billion times. I did 6 balls... 6 x 12 pieces = 72 shapes. Ooh, look at my math skills!
4. Cut 'em out, and cut slits in each "petal", halfway through. I just cut enough for one ball and then assemble... otherwise my hand cramps up.
5. ASSEMBLY. Start with one shape, and attach 5 more pieces, one to each "petal" of your first shape. Then link those 5 together at the sides.
6. Do the same with the remaining 6 pieces, so you have two half-spheres.
7. Link the two halves together. This is tricky. You'll have to start by sticking one petal on one half to the join in two petals on the other half. It's hard to explain. Think of it this way: instead of lining up the two halves together evenly, you'll want to position it so that the petals are staggered. Otherwise it'll be impossible to link it all together.
8. Go around the join, carefully linking slits. It might take some wrestling to get it. I used heavy paper and didn't have any rips. Lightweight recycled plastic would work great as well! Once you get to the last petals, you'll find they are stuck inside the ball. Use a pencil or something to gently pry 'em out.
9. Once your ball is assembled, go around it flattening your petals out. I like to tuck the corner of the petals under other petals so no sharp bits poke out.
There! I hope that helps and I hope you like my Christmas crafts!
Happy Whoolidays!
