Easy Paper Folding Basket

Paper Basket

This easy to make paper basket is my Guest DT project for Itsy Bitsy.
At the outset itself let me confess I am not good at origami..I cannot even make the  common origami paper aeroplanes ! 

But I was so fascinated when I saw this accordion style Paper Basket on Pinterest that  I overcame 2 pet peeves [which are 1.I dont have the patience for You tube videos and 2. I am not skilled at origami]to make this paper folded basket.

Paper Basket

I used 5 squares of 6 x 6 inch double sided pattern paper to make this 3 compartment paper basket. Without the handle ,the charm of this paper basket is that it folds flat in an accordion style!

Paper Basket

Added a  handle and made some dangling beaded charms to hang on the ledge of the paper basket

Origami Basket

Edited :This project got a TOP Honor at Decorate to Celebrate

Punchcraft Flowers Tutorial- Tulips

Punchcraft Flowers

This spring theme layout  is my Guest DT project for Hands to Hearts on the theme Celebrating Womanhood .

This layout features my mothers younger sister with my daughter in a spring theme layout with lots of punchcraft flowers.

Punchcraft flowers

I used a balloon punch to make the paper tulips,punchcraft roses and punchcraft flowers

Punchcraft Flowers

I layered the photo on lace and added gel heart stickers, a handmade stick pin ,pearl strings ,Marianne die cut leaves and lots of handmade punchcraft flowers. 

Punchcraft Flowers

The vintage chandelier and clock are rhinestone stickers.The chipboard flourish is painted with a gel pen and coated with glossy accent .I used parchment paper to make the white punchcraft flowers.

Parchment flowers

My regular readers know that I dont stamp but in this project I used  a flowery spring themed "Love"  and "Always" stamp [sent to me by the generous Gopi for a challenge won by this House shaped box]

Punchcraft Flowers

Since I was not confident about my stamping, to jazz it up a bit ,I added tiny bindis[we Indian ladies use it to adorn our foreheads as a fashion accessory!] and tear drop quilling.

Parchment Flowers

Punchcraft tulip tutorial

Punchcraft tutorial

Sharing a simple and quick paper flower tutorial.
Materials required

Paper : Cardstock  or  thinner paper depending on what your punch can punch!

Punches : Medium Jef balloon, Small Jef 5 petal. If you dont have punches hand cut  an ovoid shape.

Embossing pad or mouse pad

Embossing tool or any rounded object such as the back of a pen

Scissors

White glue - Fevicol mr is my preferred glue for punchcraft

Coloring medium:Stamp pads/color pencils /chalk etc - optional to shade the petals of your punchcraft flower

Punchart tutorial

Punch 5 balloons and one 5 petal flower.Shade the petals if desired. Emboss on the un-colored side by running the rounded tip just at the edge of the balloon shape to give a gentle cup as shown in the photo of the punchcraft tutorial

Punchart tutorial

Cut 1/4 length at the balloon tip. Apply a dot of glue to one half and  swing and stick the other half to make a cup shape as shown in the punchcraft tutorial

Punchcraft tutorial

Apply glue to the base of the cup shaped petal and stick it to the embossed 5 petal flower .Its easier if you use a pointed object as shown in the middle picture to stick the petals of the punchcraft flower

Punchcraft tutorial

Stick petals one by one -stick 3 petals in the outer layer and 2 inside to form your punchcraft tulip flower

Paper flower tutorial

I folded a strip of card stock and attached it to the base of the tulip.If you are on pinterest , pinning this collage summarizes the steps in this tulip flower punchcraft tutorial.

Punchcraft flower tutorial

I hope you enjoyed this simple paper flower tutorial

Punchcraft flowers

All the paper flowers in this project were made using the balloon punch.

Punchcraft Tutorial Links

• Corner pink 5 petal flower : Punchcraft flower tutorial
• Another 5 petal flower with baloon punch : Punchcraft tutorial
• The rose was also made using the balloon punch in a similar manner to this tutorial : Paper Rose tutorial

If you are a beginner to punchcraft here are links to some Easy Punchcraft flower tutorials

• Circle Punch Paper Flower Tutorial
• Balloon Punch Punchcraft Flower Tutorial
• Heart Punch Paper Daisy Tutorial
• Heart Punch Flat folding Paper flower tutorial
• Heart Punch Easy Handmade Flower Tutorial
• Heart Punch easy 3 D flower tutorial

If you want to try some advanced Punchcraft flowers here are some tutorials

• Heart Punch Paper rose tutorial
• Pear Punch Paper Rose tutorial
• Paper Rose and Paper Rosebud tutorial
• 5 Petal Punch Paper Rose tutorial

Supplies : Paper,Chipboard [Itsy Bitsy],Dies : Marianne leaves, Cheery Lynn Butteflies [Priya],Parchment Paper [Devi & Co, Bangalore]
This Paper tulip tutorial was featured at Hobbymela

Hot Air Balloon Craft Tutorial

Hot Air Balloon Craft

Dear friends I had earlier posted about a DIY sheep costume we made for my daughter's show and tell .Well recently the Hindi Show and Tell theme was modes of transport . While most kids took  toy cars or at the most paper aeroplanes my high achiever little one insisted she wanted to take a home made hot air balloon.

Hot Air Balloon Craft

This was dictated to me in the morning and we had to take the project to school the next day![Translate that to make mommy stressed out!]

That day my work was too hectic and I couldnt really devote time to design let alone think about her hot air balloon!

It broke my heart when in the evening she tried to make a balloon all on her own![Kids do have ways to make us  moms feel guilty dont they!].

So I finally cleared my brain of the work weary lethargy and stapled a paper cylinder to make the basket [like I made the wishing well] for her hot air balloon

Hot Air Balloon Craft

We had some newspaper rolls left over from our woodland recycled craft and she stuck the rolls inside the paper cylinder while our Goldy tried to sleep among all the mess created by our hot air ballon craft!

Hot Air Balloon Craft

I cut out a circle for the base of the basket and my little one glued the zig zag teeth to the circle to complete the base of our paper hot air balloon.

Hot Air Balloon Craft

We chopped off the paper rolls to make them all the same length and stuck a CD atop using white glue[ fevicol mr] .I mostly played a photographer's role in this hot air balloon craft

Hot Air Balloon Craft

For the top,a paper mache balloon would have been ideal or a lovely paper pieced one but we didnt have that kind of time and so we decided to use an air filled plastic ball in our hot air balloon craft

Hot Air Balloon Craft

We stuck a disc of paper on the shiny surface of the CD and my daughter applied a crazy amount of glue on the top of the CD before sticking the ball.Surprisingly our plastic ball stuck well and survived the journey to school and back! 

My daughters school is big on recycling and when we finished she proudly exclaimed to me that since we had recycled a CD and newspapers,our hot air balloon was a recycled craft!

Hot Air Balloon Craft

We didnt have much time for decorating and so this project went rather raw to her school!Surprisingly my daughter came home that day beaming that not only her Hindhi teacher but also the Principal of the school had praised her hot air balloon!

So any similarly harassed moms out there take heart sometimes crazily put together simple projects turn out great !!
Edited : This project was the top pick of 2 of the Designers at Come and Get it recycle theme challenge..so thrilled!!

James Bond Card

Masculine card

Once a blogger friend asked me if I ever made "simple" cards!! Well this one is as simple as it comes!This James Bond theme card is a birthday card for my hubby who is a big 007 fan.

James Bond card

The idea was my daughters and we used her alphabet stencils to make the coat and gun.I used rhinestones on the belt of the coat and on the gun to glamorize the CAS card!

Gun card

James Bond is renouned for his gadgets and so this special gun shoots a silver  heart! I used silver gel pen to outline the images and added silver champagne glasses to make it a masculine themed card

James Bond card

I have made some really crazy birthday cards for my hubby in the past.Here are the links to some of them :
Super Hero Pop up card: Spiderman and Super man card
Photo slider Bruce Lee & Cleopatra card
Slider Pop Up card- this one is a tutorial.
And some have been way too wacky to blog about!!

Recycling Craft- Doll House Making Tutorial

Doll House Making

Dear friends sharing a recycling craft tutorial I had Guest posted some time back  at my friend Yvonne's blog !
I made this doll house with my then 5 year old daughter who loves to craft with me.We decorated our doll house with quilling and handmade punchcraft flowers .

Doll House Making

How to recycle a Box into a House

You can recycle any box into a doll house! At the top part of your box draw a horizontal line and drop a vertical from its center to reach the roof as shown. Draw sloping lines from the sides to meet the top center and you have made the shape of your doll house

Doll House Making

Use a knife or scissors to cut down from the top corner to meet the horizontal line as shown.Bend the flap  inwards at the line earlier drawn as shown to make the front of your doll house

Doll House Making

Do the same cutting and folding for the other 3 top corners of your box and you will have 4 triangular flaps as shown

Doll House Making

Bend the side wall at the level of the horizontal line and fold down the rectangular shaped flap as shown

Doll House Making

Stick the side wall flaps to the triangular flaps from the front and back of the house and the basic frame work of your doll house is ready.

Doll House Making

My little one wanted the door to swing open and fortunately the cardboard was strong enough to withstand our architectural efforts!

Doll House Making

Make a roof by bending some cardboard over your doll house or measure out 2 roof pieces and glue them   over the doll house

Doll House Making

If you want to make a detachable roof so that you have a house shaped box here is the tutorial link : House shaped box.Here is my young architect decorating her cardboard doll house and enjoying our recycling craft.

Doll House Making

Our roof has 2 pieces of corrugated card glued down in the middle with pattern paper. I used a Fiskars punch [ Thank You Priya!] to make the lacy roof of the doll house.We also added some homemade fabric bows and punchcraft flowers.

Doll House Making

My daughter wanted a window so hand cut a window and hid the jagged edges using corrugated paper and jazzed up the wall with some quilling.

Doll House Making

The other side of the house too has some punched flowers and quilling

Recycling craft

Here is our cardboard doll house in our garden ready to play with. If you keep the decoration minimal,making these cardboard doll houses is quite a quick craft for a school project, an xmas tree decoration or just to pretty up your house with a fabulous recycling craft.

Recycling craft

I know most of my old followers have seen this Doll House as its one of my most popular ones [it had won top 3 at  4 different challenges] but I have never shared the tutorial on my blog before so just reviving a favorite recycling project with an extra zing!
This tutorial was featured on Totally Tutorials
Here are some House Shaped Boxes with the tutorial links
Here is another  link to House shaped box making tutorial - the lid comes off and you can use it as a box

And another House shaped box made by recycling a chocolate box: House shaped Box Tutorial

Box Making Tutorial