Easy Paper Basket

Old World Roses in a Basket

by Albert Williams  (English 1922 - )

This is a simple paper craft that I created for a 5-year-old, but it could be used to accent a table for tea guests, with each basket made to give away holding something else handmade, or anything that suits your theme.  You can use really high-end scrap papers, or you can use a paper from a brown paper bag. I used children's construction paper.

The only ingredients are paper of any size, scissors and tape.

Square-off your paper by picking up a point and bringing the paper over to line up with the straight edge on the other side. 

Fold any excess paper sticking out, evenly lined up with one edge,

and cut it off along the folded line.

Set the excess piece aside 

Open up the paper and fold one side up to the middle line.

Fold the opposite side up to the middle also.

Open up the paper again,

and fold up the other two sides to the middle.

Open it up again and you will see the fold lines of a lot of even-shaped squares.

Cut off all four corners.

This is what it will look like with the corners

cut.  You can use this for a template and just trace around it to make other baskets, or you can follow the entire proceedure for each basket. In my observation, children would rather know how to do this step-by-step so they can pick up a piece of paper any time and do it themselves, so I do not make a template. However if you are making 20 of them for a special event, make a cardboard pattern and trace around it.

Pull up the corner sides and put one piece of tape on each corner to secure it.

Fold that left-over strip of paper in half, lengthwise.

Cut along the fold into two pieces.

Use one piece for a handle, taping it once on each side.

These are not strong baskets, but will hold some lightweight paper craft, hand shredded paper (made with a hand held shredder usually available in craft and scrapbooking stores) or used to hold some kind of food served at the table.

Easy Heart Cards

Here is a very easy way to make Valentines using  paper and clip art from magazines or ads that come in the mail. The heart has a special country style shape, so if it does not suit you, just make your own shape by folding paper in half and cutting a half-heart shape, and using it for a pattern.  This one is designed to fit in the long business envelopes, as you see below:

I bought these envelopes at WalMart when they had a special pink office supply promotion.

This heart is made of white cardstock and a simple rose is glued on. Without much fuss, and no embellishments, it is still really pretty.

  

In the photograph above I have sketched a simple little scene of a path leading to a house surrounded by trees, with hills in the background and a clear sky,  which you can print and use to make the card like those old post cards.  This one is just done with crayons and a rose sticker is added at the lower end of the heart.

All you need is construction paper or thin scrapbook paper, or cardstock if you prefer. The clip art can be anything you have, such as stickers or pictures. The only equipment you need are scissors and white glue. Deckle edge scissors and glitter glue is optional. For children, this is very easy, since they only have about three things to put on the card. I've added stick-on diamonds and ribbon to some of these.

A long stemmed rose is included in the pattern. Just cut the entire rose on green paper, and then cut out the rose bud in another color and glue over the stem, clipping where necessary. A white card with the rose on it would look just fine. I have used glittered puff-paint by Polymer and Scribbles to outline the above card.  The template provides a small rose shape to glue inside the larger heart. This one is made with a small heart from glitter paper.

This is done with a clip-art tag and a hand made feather, which can be made just by drawing a feather shape and clipping the edges. Shade the tip and make it look like a quill pen.

Print the template, above, on cardstock or glue to cardboard. Cut out the pieces and trace around them on various types of paper, for your heart cards.  These are just one layer. The personal greeting is written on the other side. 

If you sell things from your home, this would be a very easy and quick project. Line up all your supplies and get everything in order before you begin, and it will go fairly easily. The white cardstock hearts on the left are made only with cardstock paper and stickers. Just two ingredients are simple for children and still make a lovely impression.

Take a second look at the things that come in the mail and you'll find some good clip-art. The bookmark from Country Living magazine promotion is made of good quality cardstock, has a beautiful scene of roses on it,  and is just the right size for the business envelopes I am making these cards for.

Here is what the junk mail clip-art looks like on cards. The bookmark at the top of the picture made a lovely card, tied with coordinating ribbon. 

Look at your business-reply cards inside of magazines, too. This is one from a Victoria magazine, pasted on a piece of paper made with a special craft punch that makes it look like lace around the edges.

The smaller heart shape makes perfect little tags, which can be attached to gifts or gift bags. The construction paper comes from the dollar store.

If you do not have enough envelopes, just open a business size envelope from any mail you have, or use a new one, and glue it on to cardstock. Cut it out and use it as a pattern on thin scrapbook paper, putting the white side on the outside and the print on the inside.

To make a book or letter-card, just punch holes on the straight edge of the card and thread ribbon through it. Cut out extra pages but make them slightly smaller all around.

This one has a length of silver beads to tie it and is outlined in silver glitter-glue. I've made a guest book out of this one, just for one day. You can get quite a few pages in it for one postage stamp, for writing letters.

You can also trace this shape on fabrics, cut them out and glue them on the cards with a glue-stick.  The liquid white glue does not work as well with fabric.

While I think of it, I discovered something to share: Sidewalk chalk (that odd looking piece on the edge of the chalkboard) works really well on old chalkboards. Normal chalk seems to slide and not stick on the board when it gets older and worn out, but children's  sidewalk chalk is great, and you can get it at the dollar store. It erases a lot more easily too, and  it comes in large sticks in many different colors,  or in shapes like bunnies and ducks, etc. If you are not able to refurbish the black boards with chalkboard paint, cannot get any, or do not want to spend the money, this sidewalk chalk makes them look fresh and new.

Have a look around at things you normally would throw away and you will find quite a few things you never noticed before. For example, in the picture of all the hearts, the last card on the right of the top row has a rose on it made with a green stem cut from part of a brown paper grocery bag. Part of the bag was green.  You might find a little rose on your tea box or floral stickers from your junk mail, that you could use to brighten up a card. 

Although there are high quality products widely available today for crafters, it is always good to understand how to be creative and resourceful and to use what you have on hand,  to make something beautiful for someone else.

6/17/2010

Press here for more information about this and other beautiful 18th and 19th century paintings.

This is a scrap-art project that takes only a few minutes. 

All that is needed is a seed or bulb catalog,(the kind with shiny, photo type pages works best) a blank card, a couple of stickers, and a bright, contrasting scrap of paper to use as a background.

A side view of the dimensional butterfly sticker. I showed how to make your own layered clip-art in an earlier post of dimensional cards. This sticker was from a card of similar stickers, with little sparkle bits already glued on it.

Find a picture in the catalog and cut it out. If it has a catalog number on it, it is easy to cover it up with a sticker.  Paste the scrap of paper on the folded card, using a solid glue stick, and add the clipping and large butterfly sticker, or cut out a butterfly from a Birds and Blooms magazine.   This card fits in a normal card-size envelope.

I have just returned from visiting a friend who is recovering from illness. She has been making collages from old issues of Birds and Blooms magazines. They are put in frames, under glass, and look quite impressive. She chooses one of the larger, scenic pictures, and then cuts out paths. She makes the paths get smaller into the distance of the picture, and surrounds the paths with trees and flowers she has cut out. She tries to tell a story with her pictures, often having a house somewhere in them, with gates, birdbaths and fences. One of her collages looked like this:

This one is covered in clear contact paper, but the ones in frames looked much better.

In case you missed this folded village card craft, here are a couple of pictures of the finished project.

Be sure to click on for a larger view...

...and download your pattern from The Pleasant Times.  Fill up your page with several of the patterns and then print it on white card stock. These can be colored with any medium (paint, crayons, pencil, chalks).  The message can be written on the blank side. Fold the card at the seams and then put it in a small envelope as a gift tag or a greeting card.

A Few Cold Weather Activities

Press Here to View This Painting

Cold weather  has advantages. It is a great time to be creative and it helps children learn to be resourceful.  Activities like this are quiet and provide hours of contentment.  

 

Heart shaped cookies like this are so pretty it would be nice to have some just for decoration. The backing is  made of heavy brown paper from a large grocery bag, and the top is white cardstock or textured papers  decorated with puff paints. For very young children, instead of the puff paint or glitter paint, try using scrapbook trims, sewing supplies,  applied with a solid glue stick, and stickers, or crayons, to imitate the lovely heart cookies in the cookbooks or bakeries.

Press the pictures for closer views. They can be inserted in envelopes with a few words of kindness written on the back, or they can have holes punched to make gift tags from them.

This is called Cottage Bread, made with oats and molasses that has wonderful cake-like texture.   Served with tomato-basil ,vegetable soup, it is a perfect lift on a cold day.  It was originally called cottage bread because it was shaped like a cottage. This recipe was invented to accommodate left over cooked oatmeal made for cereal. I once stated that eating this bread would change the most hardened outlook on life but now I say that there should be horns and cymbals and a huge ceremony with a robe and a crown for the maker of this bread.  (Guess I'll have to make a paper crown ;-)  I've heard men rave on and on about it and begin behaving as though they just entered a special spiritual realm over the likes of this bread. I'm not guaranteeing that it will turn out perfectly the first try. Keep practicing, and eventually you will get something people will look forward to coming home for.

 Look for the recipe on this page. 

You will have to scroll down on her page to find the recipe.  Its a nice one because you dont really have to use bread pans, and you dont have to knead it.

For another bright spot on a snowed-in day, enjoy this pretty blog.

Its really uplifting to see women posting beautiful thoughts and creative ideas. 

Pretty Petals

To view this painting by Igor Levashov, press here

To cheer up dark winter days, I suggested finding a primrose, often sold for less than a dollar, and bringing it indoors as an inexpensive bouquet. If these are not available, here is a lovely alternative: carnations.  However, these are hand made with tissue paper and chenille stems. The total cost for a huge amount of them, is about two dollars at dollar stores. All you need is a stack of tissue wrapping paper and some wire stems like these.  If you add a vase and some felt tip pens from Dollar Tree, you pay about four dollars for supplies that will make a LOT of carnations.  It amounts to about a penny per flower.  Try them in different colours.

 These are just a stack of white tissue, traced around with a small bowl and then cut with the deckle edge shaped scissors. The edges are painted with a felt tip pen in colour of choice. To find directions for tissue paper flowers, type it on your search engine. There are many step by step instructions for these, and dozens of appealing  books available about tissue paper flowers.    I made these very thick, so that they look like cabbage roses. The chenille stems look like they are in water. This is a bright spot for winter and a very easy craft for children. Try them with some of the glittered tissue paper you can get or with brighter hues.

Look for directions here

To those of us who are snowed in, it is a great encouragement to know that the countries in the southern hemisphere, particularly Australia, are having sunny days, sipping lemonade and iced tea on their verandas.  I've collected some of my favourite blogs that have imaginative creativity on them. They wont suit everyone but you might find something that makes your heart sing.

http://cgtreasures.blogspot.com/

http://pinkandprettydesigns.blogspot.com/

http://rosebrookcottage.blogspot.com/

http://humecottage.blogspot.com/

http://roseteacottage.blogspot.com/
 
http://pinkandprettydesigns.blogspot.com/
 
 
This delightful one is in Dixie, I think  http://rosecottage-laurie.blogspot.com/ - A lovely blog!

 

Press on the photograph for a close up view!  I plan to do more and add a tutorial of my own, sometime today.  These really do not look as good in the photograph as they do in reality. Around the house they look absolutely real, and it gives me a chance to use old jars and vases. Dollar store has some beautiful vases that look like crystal. Check out the candle department for candle holder jars. I also made my stems stronger by folding the chenille in half and winding it back up the stem, doubling it.

Here are some variations of this pattern:

The red rose in the center top was made by cutting smaller circles for the inside middle. Instructions for the daisy can be found on the web, but basically it is just the same, with petals cut around.