a january craft - spare paper chevron art

When you are a paper goods nut like myself and work with paper of all shapes, sizes and colors, you tend to end up with a bunch of odd strips of excess card-stock.  I even have a smaller box within my "Colored Paper" box just labeled "scraps" that I can access for a rainy day.  Staring at it this weekend, (when it was indeed rainy) I decided I was going to put those scraps of paper to work to help fill up an empty frame I had sitting around the house.

so here's what you'll need:

• 2-11"x17" pieces of paper
• scraps of colored paper, no less than 1"x1" in size
• xacto knife or cutting utensil of some sort
• glue (elmers works just fine)
• a pencil

 1- start with 2-11"x17" pieces of paper.  Overlap, trim and tape/glue together as needed to create the size artwork you'd like.  For this project, I chose to make my art measure16"x20".


2 -Then mark about 1/2" from the corners.  This gives you an idea of a border so your frame won't overlap the squares.  Unless you want it to, then just ignore this step


3 - Cut your pieces of colored paper down to 1"x1" squares.  Then line one up with your marks and glue it down (please pardon the fuzziness of these first few pictures... crummy iPhone camera)

4- Then take your next 1"x1" piece of paper and line it up next to the first one

5 - Now its time to start the chevron - take the paper square you'd like to place next and fold it in half on a diagonal.  Then glue it next to the other squares.  This creates the void of color that will define the shape of the chevron.

6 - Keep this rhythm going until you finish the first row and start again on the next row - but this time move the folded square either forward one space or back one space to create the chevron..  This is a great art project for when you just need to let your mind rest - its so wonderfully repetitive.  

I started with about 10 colors and just kept the pattern of colors going to create at least some cohesion. It's totally up to you.

Once you're done, you can then pop it in a frame and voila - a fantastically simple, colorful, and did I mention 3Dimensional piece of wall art in one afternoon!

  - Leslie

a december craft: polish stars

I'm lucky in that part of my job is to create creative art activities for kids. Of course, many of the projects I come up with are modified projects that I've done on my own.  One of my favorite holiday past times which I was able to modify for work is to create polish stars. These are pretty labor intensive, but they are beautiful and add some neat decor to your holiday tree (in our case, a lime tree). Try them out! Let us know what you think!

Materials!

Paper (use a variety of colorful papers if you feel like it, but I would suggest staying away paper that is too thick, like card stock, or too thin, like tissue paper)

Pencil

glue

scissors

paint brush

glitter

A  cup that is about 4 inches in diameter

Thread or string (any type will do, we chose to use embroidery thread).

Needle 

1 quarter

Get Going!

On a piece of paper trace the mouth of cup. Carefully, cut out your circle. Repeat this step until you have 8-10 circles (enough to make one star).

Grab one circle and fold it half. Then fold that half in half, corner to corner. And finally, fold it in half one more time (your last fold should look like a piece of pie). 

 

When you open your circle you should have 8 “pieces of pie. Take your quarter and place it in the center of your circle. Trace around the quarter to make another circle. 

Next, cut along each crease, stopping when you reach the traced circle. 

Once all creases have been cut, you will form each of the eight segments of the circle into points. To do this, take a pencil and place it in the center of a segment. 

The pencil point should meet at the edge of the paper. Wrap both sides of the segment around the sharpened point, mimicking the shape, similar to a cone. Secure point with a dab of glue.

When finished with each segment the circle will now look like a star. Repeat until all circles are complete. Add glitter to your stars. I simply use my glue brush to add a dab of glue around each point. Then I simply sprinkle glitter onto my point! Viola!

Thread a piece of string (with a knot on one end) and punch it through the center of the first circle, so that the needle exits through the folded side of the circle.  Pull until the circle stops at the knot.

Repeat with remaining stars, but make sure the needle exits through the unfolded side of the circle

Pull the two separate strings together and tie in a simple knot. This should cause your circles to become bunched into a star. 

 Cut the string to the length you would like to hang it. Tie a knot at the ends of the tread to make a loop for your mobile. Set aside, display and create the rest of your stars.

- Marisa