Minieco tutorials
Printable valentines wrap
Hello! Sorry it’s been quiet here lately. I’ve been working on my new book so have had my nose to the grindstone!
I plan to post quite a few valentines ideas over the next few weeks (including a ‘new & improved’ version of that card) so do check back soon. I always add new posts to my facebook page & pinterest page so you can follow me there if it’s easier.
Anyway, here is some valentines paper for you to print (my hubby is the non-romantic type so I’m always trying to come up with something that’s not too schmaltzy )!
The paper is for small packages only (unless you are a whizz with double sided tape and want to stick a few sheets together). By the way, the dotted lines will only print out correctly if you set your printing preferences to ‘image’ or ‘image & text’. You can usually find these settings in the print dialog….leave a comment if you have problems ^_^.
Without further ado here are the links:
Geometric heart wrap
Geometric shapes wrap
Happy Monday all!
Mini paper medallions {hello 2013!}
Hello everyone! I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. We took our decorations down a few days ago which is always a bit sad :-/ so I made a few new decorations to hang up in their place.
Paper medallions have been around for aeons. I remember making them when I was a kid. I’ve seen a few pinned on Pinterest lately so I think they are making a bit of a comeback.
The medallions I made are quite dinky (about 6 – 10cm in diameter). They look really nice hung up in a group…..and they also make fabulous gift toppers.
All you need is A4 paper, scissors, glue and thread so you don’t even need to go to the craft store (not sure whether that is a good or bad thing!). If you fancy making a few then check out the how-to below.
YOU WILL NEED:
- – – – – – – – – –
+ A4 Paper
+ Scissors
+ Ruler
+ Needle (for scoring)
+ Thread
+ Double sided tape/glue
+ Printable templates (all files are at the bottom of the post)
HOW TO
- – – – – – – – – –
1. Print the template onto A4 paper. You can make four medallions from each sheet of A4 paper. Cut out.
2. Using a needle, prick holes in the template, where marked.
3. Using a needle and ruler score along all straight lines.
4. Fold the piece of paper up (accordion fold).
5. Cut out the diamond shapes.
6. Cut a length of cotton (I cut about an arms length).
7 & 8. Start threading the cotton through all the holes (apart from the first hole and last hole).
9. Stick one end of the paper to the other end. I used double sided tape but you can also use glue (I would wait for the glue to dry before finishing the rest of the steps).
10. Thread the cotton through the last hole.
11. Pull on the ends of the cotton until they are tight and then press down on the medallion to flatten….be careful at this point as the medallion will spring back up if not held in place.
12. Weight the medallion and tie a double knot in the thread. This part is quite tricky as the knot needs to be tight in order for the medallion to stay flat. If you have someone around who can help you then do ask!
You can of course make bigger medallions. Just make sure that the length of the paper is at least eight times longer than the width.
paper decorations {winter edition}
Here are some Christmas decorations inspired by the good old British weather! We’re putting the tree up this weekend so more decorations to come over the next week. When do you normally put yours up? (When I was little it was usually a Christmas eve job but nowadays my neighbourhood seems to go for December 1st!).
(BTW: Don’t forget to put your loop of thread in before sticking the models together – I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve done that!)
Templates
- – - – - – - –
Snowflake tetrahedron
Simple snowflake icosahedron
Snowflake icosahedron
Mountain tetrahedron
Raindrop cube
Grey Gem (model 2)
If you want plain templates without the designs on you can check out my platonic solids templates, my paper gems templates or my diamond template.
Happy cutting/folding/sticking!
Christmas pixel popup cards
Firstly I just wanted to say a Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers. Hope you all have a wonderful time ^_^
I have had quite a few requests for Christmas pixel popup cards. There are three designs below if you fancy having a go at making some.
I tried lots of designs out. Some were a complete disaster! The trees definitely turned out to be the best…they remind me of lego trees!
Speaking of which I am going to hang lego trees up in our Christmas tree this year. I like the idea of a tree within a tree!
Text based designs work really well too. The photo below doesn’t really do that card justice! (The weather here is terrible at the moment so it’s been hard to take good photos).
My reindeer was a flop! (It did exactly that!). I do think it looks nice as a simple paper-cut though.
If you fancy making some you will find templates and a tutorial after the jump…
…don’t forget to make some pixel snowflake confetti to go in your card ^_^
Click on the link below for full how-to!
Advent calendar
Yay! I finally managed to get an advent calendar tutorial up. I do hope you like it. I tried to come up with one that uses simple materials, is easy to make, is suitable for adults and kids, and one that can be customised to suit your own colour scheme.
If you wanna have a go you will find full instructions after the jump…
These models are pretty versatile; you can hang them in your tree, make a garland from them or you can stand them on your windowsill.
*I can’t believe how quickly the months are flying by. Where is the pause button!*
Click on the link below to view the how-to!
Read more…
Kaleidocycle {aka folding paper toy!}
Have you ever made a kaleidocycle before? They are pretty fun. All you need is some glue, paper and 5 or 10 minutes!
There is an animated gif at the bottom on the post so that you can see what they do.
There are also instructions & a template below too ^_^
YOU WILL NEED:
- – – – – – – –
- Template
- Paper or thin card
- Glue
- Scissors
- Ruler and needle for scoring
HOW TO:
- – – – – – – –
1. Print your template and cut it out.
2. Using a ruler and sharp point (compass or needle) score all the lines on your template.
3. Fold along all vertical lines.
4. Fold along all diagonal lines.
5. Fold your template over so that the three tabs tuck under the stripy part of the template. Glue into position (a glue-stick works well) and leave your model to dry for a few minutes.
6. Bend the kaleidocycle round as shown.
7. Tuck the remaining tab into the other end of the kaleidocycle. I found it easier to put a little tape over this join (rather than glueing)…
8. Play!
The animated gif is a bit shaky. I was alone in the house so had to use my chin to press the button on the camera (whilst the camera was attached to tripod). High-tech indeed!
By the way, check out this free download (courtesy of my cousins band) which contains: trick or treat poster, DIY ‘creeps’ mask, high quality MP3 and exclusive video art.
And, Helen, from Curlybirds just put together a ‘vintage Halloween costume‘ post on her site. Do have a look….it’s pretty funny 
Printable wrap {halloween edition!}
Do you give people presents at Halloween? If so, here is some printable wrap you might like to use. The templates are A4 so only suitable for small presents. (As you can see I hijacked pacman again ^_^)
We have had a terrible year in the UK for rain…it has been coming down by the bucket-load for months on end…hence the raindrop sheet!
The templates are at the end of the post. Have a great week ^_^
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TEMPLATES
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Raindrop wrap
Pacman wrap
Lightning wrap
- All I need… (my mum's blog x)
- Arvindgupta Toys
- Beci Orpin
- Chez Beeper Bebe
- Colossal
- Craftgawker
- Crow roosters crow
- Curly Birds
- diy or die
- Fine Little Day
- Handmade Charlotte
- Hello Kiddo
- IDN Magazine
- Kickcan & Conkers
- Kireei
- le dans la
- LMNOP
- Lullatone home orchestra
- Meet me at Mike's
- misako mimoko
- Officers (my cousins band)
- Papercrave
- Piles of washing
- Poppytalk
- Red Ted Art
- Sausage Jar
- Swiss Miss
- Tattly
- Wabi-sabi wanderings
- What I Made
- Whipup
