Monday 12 October 2015

Book Crafts: Mini Bookish Pumpkin

 
 
Mini Bookish Pumpkins
 
 
 
As we're in October, I wanted to make something with a Halloween theme for my Book Crafts feature. And what says Halloween more than pumpkins?
 
To make the mini bookish pumpkins, you will need:
 
Page Proof Pages
Orange card
Green card
2 Split pins
Scissors
Double-sided tape (or glue)
Hole punch
Orange Sharpie pens (optional)
 
 
Cut rectangle strips out of your page proof, making sure they're the same size
 
The length and width of the strips determines how your pumpkin will look at the end. I experimented and liked the dinky little pumpkin, which I made used short, wide strips
 
You may have to adjust the number of strips needed, depending on the size of your strips, plus how you want the pumpkin to look - if you want gaps between the strips, use less or if you want a more closed pumpkin, you'll need more strips to fill the gaps. I found that 6 strips were best for the look I wanted
 
If you like, you can edge the strips with colour - I used three different orange shades of Sharpie pens but you can use felt tips (but test they don't make the print run first), ink or pencil crayon
 
 
Using double-sided tape or glue (allow drying time if using glue), stick the strips onto orange card and cut out
 
I experimented using just the page proof paper but it was too flimsy so the card makes the strips sturdier
 
 
Punch holes in each end of the strips and put to one side for the moment
 
 
Draw a set of leaves on a piece of green card and cut out. Punch a hole in the middle
 
Using the same card, cut out a thin strip and curl by winding around a pencil. Stick the twirly strip on the back of the leaf, making sure you don't cover the hole
 
 
Gather the strips and the leaf and thread them onto a split pin, one at each end
 
I found that the split pins I used were too long and had to trim them with scissors. Next time I'd use brads (smaller split pins used for crafts)
 
 
Bend the strips between your fingers and thumb
 
Note: it won't really start to change shape until the next step
 
 
Turn the strips, one at a time to create the rounded shape. This part can be quite fiddly, especially as the card makes the strips thicker and less easy to move, but when I used just the paper, it was really fragile
 
Continue to move the strips around, spacing them evenly until you have a sphere
 
 
Re-twirl the green strip if you need to - and then you're done!
 
 
 
Click here to see all Book Crafts
 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please feel free to leave a comment. I appreciate them all. Apart from spam, obviously.