Introduction
Paper crafts are a fun outlet for creative energy, but they can be frustrating to complete alone. Paper folding is easy and fun when you work with friends or family! Here are 7 paper craft ideas to get you started.
1. Bird Origami
- Bird Origami
To make a paper plane, you need to fold the paper in half twice (so it looks like the letter “M”), then open it up and fold the right side over onto the left to form a triangle shape. Open up your paper and fold down one corner so that it is at an angle of 30 degrees or 45 degrees. Fold up another corner at an angle of 30 degrees or 45 degrees as well. Attach this piece on top of your first folded rectangle by folding both sides into each other, creating a square shape out of your origami paper plane. You can also use glue for this step if you would like extra security when folding together multiple layers at once! If needed, cut off excess material from around both sides using scissors so that there isn’t too much bulkiness happening between each section being overlapped onto itself (this step isn’t necessary but just helps cut down on any extra stress that might come from trying too hard without having any experience yet).
2. Fish Paper Craft
In this project, you can use any paper that you want. You can use any color too. You can use any shape and size of paper to make the fish. The only thing that matters is the creativity that you bring into it!
3. Flower Origami
- What you’ll need:
- a square piece of paper (8.5″ x 8.5″, preferably)*
- fingernail clippers*
Once you have these supplies, it’s time to make your paper flower! To do that, take the square and fold it in half diagonally so that it forms an X on one side of the paper. You can fold it any way you like; this step is just what we are going to use as a guide for our next steps. Now open up that X shape again so that you have two squares joined together at an angle where they meet at their middle points (as pictured above). If at any point along this process something doesn’t look right or makes sense, take a moment to re-read through this entire guide before continuing on—that way all your bases will be covered before making any mistakes!
4. Paper Glider
The next craft is a paper glider.
- First, you will need to use a pencil to draw a glider on the piece of paper.
- Then cut out the shape of your glider with scissors or an X-ACTO knife (be careful not to cut yourself!).
- Once you have made one, glue it together and test it out by flying it around!
5. Paper Hat
Materials needed:
- 2 pieces of paper, any size or shape
- 1 piece of adhesive tape
Steps to make a paper hat:
- Fold your piece of paper in half over itself and put some tape on the two sides so you have one long strip. This will be the brim of your hat. Open it up again and fold down both sides to meet in the middle, as shown above (make sure they’re even!).
- Cut out a triangle from each side and stack them on top of each other, then cut out another triangle from underneath those two triangles that are already stacked together—you should have five layers now! After you’ve done this step once, repeat these same steps with another sheet of paper until all five layers are stacked up on top of each other; this makes up most if not all of your hat’s thickness when wearing it!
6. Finger Puppets
Finger puppets are the perfect craft for preschoolers and toddlers, as they are simple enough to make and can be used in lots of different ways. You will need:
- Folded paper (any color or pattern)
- Scissors
- Glue stick or tape
7. Paper Airplane Origami
Paper Airplane Origami
Have you ever wanted to fly? Well, here’s your chance! In this origami tutorial, we will be making a paper airplane that can fly very far. You’ll need some paper and a pencil for this project. Let’s get started!
You can motivate yourself without being mean to yourself
The next time you find yourself losing motivation to work on a craft project, try this trick: instead of telling yourself how bad your work is and how awful you are at being creative, remind yourself of all the reasons why you love doing that particular type of craft in the first place.
Remembering why it’s fun will make it more fun again!
Conclusion
You may have heard that you should only reward yourself when you do a good job, but this is an outdated idea. We don’t think it makes sense to wait until we have done something perfect before rewarding ourselves and setting a high standard for our efforts. Instead, we should be motivated by positive feedback from others and our own enjoyment of the process of working towards a goal—even if we don’t achieve that goal in its entirety.
