Paper Floral Ball - Recycled

Handmade Recycled Map Decoration

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Real flower bouquets wither – but these handmade, one-of-a-kind floral balls made from recycled pages of old atlases and maps will last forever (or at least a very long time!).

envelope templates - origami and more

Origami Envelopes

Making an easy origami envelope only takes a few minutes and a bit of practice. Once you master the art of a basic envelope, you can expand your repertoire to other kinds of envelopes and origami projects. Origami envelopes are perfect for sending notes and many other craft projects. You'll find that these little envelopes can be very useful, not to mention cute.

Origami Envelope Instructions

Here are simple steps to create your easy origami envelope.

1. Place the square of paper with the pattern side down.
2. Use your pencil to mark the middle of the paper. You can use your ruler to draw two faint lines and mark where they cross with a dot.
3. Turn your piece of paper so you are looking at it diagonally.
4. Fold in the two sides so that the points meet your center dot. Crease the fold.
5. Fold up the lower point just above the point where the side flaps end. This will seal the bottom of your envelope and create a pocket.
6. Unfold the envelope entirely, making sure to open the sides. Fold the lower point in half so it has a flat top.
7. Bring the sides in on top of the folded bottom flap.
8. Turn out the top of each side point until they meet flat top of the bottom flap.
9. Open the side points out again and fold in the turned out parts. Reverse the crease that you just made so that the pattern shows on the inside.
10. Tuck the flaps back over the bottom fold and crease all the folds well.
11. The top flap will tuck inside of the pocket you've created. You can also use a sticker or dot of glue to seal the envelope on the outside.

Another easy origami envelope project is described in the Origami Envelope slideshow.

Or a more standard A2 Envelope Template

A2 Envelope Template

Material Ideas: creative alternatives

• Comics
• Newspaper
• Wrapping paper
• Lightweight cardstock
• Magazines
• Wallpaper samples

You should note that if you are planning to send your origami envelope through the post office, you'll need to meet certain requirements for size. The envelope needs to be at least 3 ½ inches high and 5 inches long.

Birdhouses from Greeting Cards

Birdhouses from Greeting Cards

After I had made the greeting card village ornaments I decided that I wanted to make some birdhouse ones. Since the angles for these ones were not as straight forward I couldn't just score the patterns directly on the greeting cards. I made patterns with graph paper first.

If you'd like a pdf version of the pattern for my birdhouses you can click this link. (If you don't have access to a printer you can consult the pattern to draw your own. I drew the four sections of the house on 1/4 inch graph paper and then taped them together.)

After I had made the pattern I taped it to the back of the greeting card front. (This pattern will fit on any card that is larger than approximately 4 x 6 inches.) I took a sharp pin and poked some holes to indicate where the fold lines and the entrance would be. (One mark near either end of every fold line is sufficient.)



Then I cut around the pattern.



I scored all the fold lines and used a soft pencil to make a line to mark the centre line of the entrance. Then I punched the entrance ...



... creased all the fold lines ...



... and placed a piece of double sided tape on the tab.



I rolled the house, removed the backing from the tape and stuck the tab to the inside of the front wall. (If I had used use glue instead of double sided tape I would have folded up one piece of the base and used something like a clothespin to clamp the tab to the front wall. Alternatively I could have eliminated the tab and used tape, like I did on the greeting card village ornaments.)



Next I assembled one side of the roof. I used double sided tape to attach the adjacent flaps to the roof piece. (Again if I had used use glue I would have used something like a clothespins to clamp the pieces together.)



Then I attached the two remaining flaps to the other side of the roof. (If I had used glue I would have laid this side of the roof down on my work surface until the glue was set.)



Next I assembled the base. I folded up the two rectangular pieces then used double sided tape to attach the other two pieces of the base. I inserted the handle of a small paint brush in the punched entrance to press the layers together.



Then I was ready to assemble the outer roof. Because of the simple geometry I could have used my quilt ruler to score the pattern directly onto the back of the card, like I had on the greeting card village ornaments. Instead I taped, marked and cut out the pattern like I had the larger piece of the birdhouse.



I scored the fold lines. Then I folded the hanging thread in half, knotted the two ends together ...



... and used a needle and thread to pull the folded end from the inside to the outside of the roof.



Next I creased the fold lines of the outer roof.



I applied some fast drying glue to one side of the house roof and gently laid it on Side A of the outer roof so that the roof peaks were together and the house was centred. (Side A has the notch at the centre front.) When it was in place I pressed the house against the outer roof. If I had used regular glue I would have left it laying like this until the glue was dry.



Then I applied glue to the other side of the house roof and pressed the remaining half of the outer roof in place. When the roof was in place there was a bit of the trim extending above the roof. I placed a spot of glue between the two pieces of trim on the front and pressed them together. Then I glued the two pieces of trim on the back of the birdhouse together.



When the glue was set I used scissors to carefully cut the trim flat against the roof.



For this birdhouse I decided to add a bit of glitter to the roof. I painted some white glue on the surfaces of the outer roof and then sprinkled the glitter over the roof. When it was dry, and the excess glitter poured back into the container, it looked like this.



Most of the greeting card birdhouses I have made have had colourful (front of the greeting card) walls and a snowy white (back of the greeting card) outer roof. A birdhouse with white walls and a colourful roof can work well too.



Note. I used the star shaped punch because it was the only one I had that was the right size. If I hadn't had my star punch here are some alternatives I would have tried. Going clockwise the green circle was cut from a greeting card, the small blue circle is a hole made with a regular hole punch, the red star is a sticker and the blue diamond is a hole cut with a mat knife. Another possibility is a 1/2 inch round sticker, which may be found where office supplies are sold.

bird origami - robin

This beautiful traditional origami bird is actually quite easy to make,

 and if you fold the feet at just the right angle, it will stand up!

For the best looking bird, you can use paper thats coloured on both sides:

but white on the bird still looks nice if you dont have any double sided paper.

For a printable .pdf version of the bird instructions, click here.

You will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to

 open the .pdf file. You can get Adobe Reader here

 

1. Start with your paper white side up. Fold in half, as shown.

 

2. Fold the outside corners into the centre line, and crease well.

 

3. Fold the top triangle backwards


4. Fold the corners of the model in
toward the centre, crease well, then
open again.


 

5. Bring the highlighted corner up and outward using the crease shown. Then bring the highlighted corner back down toward the centre line and flatten.

 

 6. Repeat this step on the opposite
corner... the model should now look
like this


 7. Fold the outermost corners backwards on the angle shown and crease well.


 

8. Mountain fold the model in half. (Fold backwards)

 

9. Rotate the model slightly so you can see the bird forming


 10. Make these creases and unfold




11. Using these creases, inside reverse fold to
make the head and the tail of the bird.

If you have folded the feet at the correct angle (in step 7), the model should stand up.

You can refold the feet if you need to.

Upcycled hearts 2 - Something Fun to try for Valentines Day