GETTING STARTED To make great paper crafts you need the right materials and a makerspace where you can think and create Your family may have a permanent makerspace set up for crafting or you can create one whenever you need it You also may already have many of the supplies shown here Your family can buy anything else you need at a craft store or dollar store Organize your supplies in boxes or plastic bins and you will be ready to create in your makerspace A note about patterns Some of the crafts in this book use patterns or templates Trace the pattern cut the pattern and then place it on the material you want to cut out You can either tape it in place and cut both the pattern and material or trace around the pattern onto the material and then cut it out recyclables You can make all of the crafts in this book with materials found around the house Save recyclables newspapers used wrapping paper tissue paper magazines flyers junk mail and more to use in your craft projects You can even use the back of old greeting cards when you need card stock for your craft Use your imagination and have fun A note about measurements Measurements are given in U S form with metric in parentheses The metric conversion is rounded to the nearest whole number to make it easier to measure 4
TECHNIQUES Have fun while making your plastic crafts and be creative Your projects do not have to look just like the ones in this book Instead you can mix and match many of the ideas in the book to come up with your own unique projects Use the following techniques to create your plastic crafts Preparing Plastic containers for Crafts Make sure to clean your containers so there are no bits of food or liquid left in them Remove the label Some come off easily If the label is hard to remove soak the jar in warm soapy water for 20 minutes It should come off easily after that Paper-Mache Glue Add equal amounts of white glue and water in a bowl Mix the glue and water together with a spoon If you have leftover glue put it in a container with a lid and use it later An empty yogurt container works well Tip When working with tissue paper and paper-mache glue be very gentle Tissue paper rips very easily Don’t try to smooth it out the creases can be part of the look If adding more glue dab the glue with an up-and-down motion rather than trying to brush glue over the tissue paper Tip Paper-mache is messy Cover your work station with newspaper or a garbage bag An adult should supervise whenever a project in this book requires using sharp instruments Even then everyone needs to be careful when using sharp instruments 6
Paper-mache technique Prepare your base You can make bases out of plastic bottles or balloons Tear squares of tissue paper Mix together your paper-mache glue Use a paintbrush to coat the surface of the base Place the squares one at a time on the base Overlap the direction of the strips to create an even surface Completely cover the base Set the base aside to dry This usually takes a full day Paper-mache Shapes To make paper-mache shapes coat the surface of several strips with glue and then press together to make a wad Squeeze out the extra glue then form the wad into the desired shape Add it to the base and let it dry completely Weaving When strips of paper or cloth are interlaced in a pattern the process is called weaving The horizontal strips go across over and under the perpendicular strips The finished weaving is much stronger than the individual strips Be prepared Read through the instructions and make sure you have all the materials you need Clean up when you are finished making your crafts Put away your supplies for next time Be Safe Ask for help when you need it Ask for permission to borrow tools Be careful when using scissors and needles 7
