Category: Tutorial

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Craft Inspiration Paper Tutorial

Spring Papercraft Make: Feather & Tassel Garland

Spring is the time of year for new growth and new life- so it’s the perfect time for a new craft idea! This seasonal papercraft project will brighten up your home.

Tassel and Feather Garland

These are simple and cheap to make, and look great using pastel shades or bright colours. You could even use old magazines for the feathers.

What you’ll need:
Tissue paper or thin paper
Thick paper or thin card
Medium-thick string or twine
Scissors
Glue

For the tassels:
The tassels are made from the tissue or thin paper. Cut a rectangular length, twice the height you’d like your finished tassel to be, and fold in half from top to bottom. Take your scissors and fringe the bottom, snipping even strips upwards towards the fold, making sure you stop 2 or 3 cms before you reach it. Unfold, roll up and twist the uncut middle section. Then just fold and twist to make a loop, securing with a bit of glue.

For the feathers:

Use thicker paper or thin card for these. Practice drawing some feather shapes on some scrap paper, till you find one you’re happy with. Use the shapes below as guides or make your own up! Make sure the ‘stem’ of the feather is quite long.

Once you’ve cut your feathers out, fold over the long stem to create a loop (make sure it’s big enough to pass your string through) and dab a spot of glue on the end to secure.

Have a think where you’d like your garland to go and measure the string length accordingly, making sure you leave enough at each end to fasten it onto something.

Now all you need to do it thread your tassels and feathers onto the string and you’ve got yourself a garland! Make as many tassels and feathers to fill it as you’d like; experiment with a spaced out, even look so you can see each individual shape, or try grouping tassels and feathers together in bunches for a fuller feel.

Did you have a go at this? I’d love to know how it turned out!

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Craft Inspiration Tutorial

Coffee.Cake.Create – a new crafting experience in Northamptonshire

Heads up, Northamptonshire! There’s a brand new craft experience in town. Every Thursday (10:30-15:00), the mezzanine floor of The Emporium at Nene Court is the home to Coffee.Cake.Create.

Coffee.Cake.Create

So, what’s it all about? Basically, it’s a regular event where you can turn up, make something and enjoy a delicious cake and a hot drink. There’s a menu for the crafts, with 4 to choose from and a variety of skill levels and project times. You’ll get everything you need to make your chosen project, use of tools and a handy set of instructions; but never fear, the resident craft captain (that’s me, by the way) will be on hand to help if you need it.

Nene Court Emporium

If you’ve never been to The Emprium, here’s the deal: it’s the home of handmade in Northamptonshire. Situated within Nene Court, the shop houses 30+ makers, artists and crafters in the downstairs area, while upstairs is a space where various workshops are held, as well as Coffee.Cake.Create.

Next door to the shop is the Garden Deli, a marvellous little cafe that has an outdoor space as well as a new expanded seating area right in The Emporium. This is where the delicious cakes and hot drinks come from for Coffee.Cake.Create; the price you pay for a project includes a drink (up to the value of £3) plus any piece of cake. So, once you’ve chosen and paid for your project at The Emporium, it’s just a few steps through to the Deli where you can order your items – they’ll then be brought up to you so you can sit back, relax and do your project in your own time.

It’s a great thing to do with a couple of friends, for some time out from your day, or to learn a new skill. You could even hold a Coffee.Cake.Create. party, hen do or event – it doesn’t have to be in the day time! Contact me for more info, or follow the link below. The menu is set for September (see below), with new crafts, specials and festive-themed makes coming later in the year. Hope to see you there one Thursday!

More info? Directions? Head to The Emporium Facebook page.

 

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Craft Origami Paper Tutorial

Origami heart tutorial

Origami heart tutorial

This origami heart is simple to fold, so it’s a good model for beginners. Use them to decorate handmade cards or gift tags.

As with all origami tutorials, my two main rules are fold neatly and crease firmly.

  • Lay your square of paper so it’s like a diamond.
  • Fold in half, point to point, crease and unfold.
  • Do the same again, folding in half the other way.
  • You’ll be left with vertical and horizontal lines running from corner to opposite corner.
  • Fold the top corner down to meet the central crease where the lines cross.
  • Take the bottom corner and fold up so it meets the flat top edge (made in the last step).
  • One side at a time, fold the outer corners up, so the bottom edge meets the central crease (the corner point will now be at the top).
  • You should now have a rough heart shape.
  • Turn the model over and fold in the 4 top points very slightly, to create a more rounded heart shape.
  • Crease these well so they stay in place and turn the model back over.
  • You’re done!
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Craft Origami Paper Tutorial

New week, new skills: Origami butterfly tutorial

This pretty origami butterfly doesn’t have many steps to it, but it can be quite tricky to get right first time. This picture tutorial will guide you through the process.

  • First of all, you’ll be creasing some guideline folds. Start with the square of paper sat so it looks like a diamond.
  • Fold in half top to bottom (point to point), crease and unfold; then do the same in the other direction, folding one side point to the other then opening up.
  • Turn the paper over and position it so it’s square in front of you.
  • You’ll be folding the paper in half again, top to bottom then side to side, creasing and opening back up each time.
  • With the creases you’ve made, the square should collapse down into a triangle. Pick the paper up.
  • You can see that the horizontal crease is going down, while the diagonal ones are popping up; just encourage this to happen! The centre should come up in a point while the sides fold in on themselves
  • Lay this triangle down so the long edge is at the top and go over the creases.
  • Working with the top layer only, take each of the top corner points and fold the down to meet the bottom point in the middle. Crease these folds well, then turn the model over.
  • See that point at the bottom? The top layer? You need to bring that up towards the middle of the top edge, so it overlaps a bit.
  • The two flaps underneath will pull round a bit; that’s fine, just let them come along. It’ll probably be easier if you pick the model up now. So, take that bottom point up past the top edge a little and fold it over, turning the whole thing over again at the end and firmly crease the fold so it stays in place. (You may find you need a spot of glue to keep that last fold in place.)
  • All that’s left to do is fold the wings up. You’ll sort of be folding it in half, which may feel a little odd, but once you’ve got going you should see how it’ll bring the wings up to stand out. Push down in the middle with one finger and bring the wings up on either side, pressing that middle bit together.

That’s it! The more you fold this butterfly, the easier it will become.

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Craft Origami Paper Tutorial Weddings

2018: Workshops & Wedding Fairs

Large origami bouquet
Turquoise & music paper bouquet - £45

Happy 2018! I hope you all had a fantastic festive season. I certainly did; despite being thwarted by the weather a couple of times, we managed to get all the family visits in.

For the past week I’ve been getting The Craft Fantastic HQ sorted for the year ahead, plus writing lots of lovely lists and plans. So, what will I be up to? Well, this year, along with maintaining my etsy shop, I’ll be focusing on weddings.

Large origami bouquet
Turquoise & music paper bouquet – £45

I’ve got 3 wedding fairs lined up for all you brides and grooms looking for something a bit different for your wedding flowers:

  • Abington Park Museum (NN1 5LW), Sunday March 4th, 11:00 – 14:00. This beautiful building has only quite recently been licensed for marriages, so it’s the perfect opportunity to take a look.
  • Grendon Lakes (NN7 1JW), Sunday April 15th, 11:00 – 14:00. A fabulous marquee wedding fair in a gorgeous setting.
  • Rock Your Wedding Fair, Old White Hart (NN4 8BS), Sunday May 20th, 11:00 – 15:00. Northampton’s first alternative wedding fair! I cannot WAIT for this one.

If you’re looking to book wedding flowers for this year, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’m happy to go through options and prices; I know how expensive weddings can be and try to offer something to suit every budget. Email me at ahoythere@thecraftfantastic.co.uk or use the form on the contact page.

Alongside weddings, I’ll be doing some craft workshops. This is something I’ve been planning for a while and have done a couple of test runs on small groups to see what works and what doesn’t. I can offer simple, mess-free paper folding or something more full-on involving pots of glue!

Happy workers!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be running a papercraft and origami workshop at the lovely Bay Tree Cottage in Towcester, Northamptonshire. This will be a full-on evening, where you’ll get to try your hand at a few different things, including gift tags, coasters and flowers. This is an evening class and includes a light supper. It will be held on Wednesday May 2nd – find all the details you need to book here.

If you’d like to book me for a workshop at your event space, please email me for details – ahoythere@thecraftfantastic.co.uk.

 

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Craft Origami Paper Tutorial

Origami Samurai helmet tutorial

The first origami I remember seeing was something my mum folded. She’d been going to Japanese classes in the evenings and brought me back a gold paper samurai helmet one time. I kept it for ages; in fact it’s probably still around somewhere.

It’s something that’s really simple and fun to fold – plus you can use them as page markers! Here’s a set of pictures to help you fold your own.

  • Start with a square of paper (main colour/pattern-side face down)
  • Fold in half bottom to top.
  • One at a time, bring the side points down to meet the bottom corner, creasing each one well after you’ve folded it.
  • Next, fold each of the top layers in half, taking the points you’ve just folded down up to meet the top.
  • Fold, crease and unfold each of these top layers in half (you’re making a guide line for the next fold.)
  • See the crease you made in the last step? Fold each of the top of the front layers so the edge lines up with the crease and smooth down firmly.
  • Now it’s taking shape! Nearly done! Going to the bottom corner, take the front layer only and fold it up.
  • Then fold the bottom of this layer upwards to form the base of the helmet. Crease these new folds well.
  • Last step! Take the remaining bottom layer, folding in half (taking the bottom corner up to the top) and pressing the fold firmly – then tuck this layer inside the helmet. Ta da!
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Craft Origami Paper Tutorial

Friday Folding: Simple origami tulip tutorial

Spring is just around the corner – even if it doesn’t feel like it. Storm Doris may have blown over but it’s still quite chilly out there, so stay in, get cosy, grab some paper and get folding!

These origami tulip flowers are simple and fun. Make them out of bright colourful paper to distract from the gloom outside. They’re great for putting on the front of handmade cards.

You’ll need:

  • 2 squares of coloured paper (1 for the flower, 1 for the stem)
  • Scissors
  • A flat surface to fold on
  • Something to crease your folds (the handle of your scissors or a thumb nail will do!)

1. Start with the sheet you want to use for the flower, colour-side down:

2. The first fold is across the middle (along the dotted black line). Take the bottom corner up to meet the top corner and crease well along the fold.

3. You should have a triangle – make a crease down the middle by bringing one of the bottom corners over to meet the other, then unfold.

4. Fold the bottom corners up to make the petals – roughly along the line shown, making sure not to fold it right up to the central line – then repeat on the other side.

5. Almost finished the flower! You just need to fold the outside corners behind, as shown here:

6. Ok, on to the leaf/stem. You’ll just need a triangular half of your square for this, so crease down the middle corner to corner and chop.

7. Start with the triangle colour side down, as below. Fold the top short edge over to meet the long edge.

8. Next, fold the bottom short edge to meet the long edge.

9. Crease both these folds well. It should end up look like the picture below.

10. Finally, fold across the middle, taking the bottom point upwards, so you end up with two points and a flat bottom, like this:

11. Now all you need to do is add the flower!

TA-DA! I hope you enjoyed this origami tulip tutorial.

 

 

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Craft Inspiration Origami Paper Tutorial

DIY Halloween decor

Halloween orange & black paper garland
Halloween orange & black paper garland

Crafters around the world have been busy working on their Christmas stock for quite some time already – but hold up! We have Halloween to go first!

If you have enough time on your hands, it’s really easy to put together these simple ideas for a seasonally spooky home. I’ve been scouring the web for ideas and I think this list shows a great range of different styles to suit any house this Halloween:

tapehand

 

There are some fab easy makes on here – my favourite is the cardboard zombie barricade!

These pretty pumpkins are so simple. If you’re not a fan of carving, this one’s for you.

fancy-pumpkins

Loads of ideas here for a frighteningly good Halloween party for any age group! Pumpkin ice buckets, orange jack-o-lanterns and more. How about these ribs?

ribs

I hope these sites have given you some inspiration. Don’t forget to check out my seasonal page over on The Craft Fantastic etsy shop, featuring my handmade Halloween garlands and spooky fang charm notebooks.

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Craft Inspiration Origami Tutorial Weddings

The Wedding Season – DIY finds and alternative ideas

Wedding sweet table

I love a handmade wedding, I really do –  and I know I’m not alone! So many people are now realising that they can contribute to their own weddings to make them unique and personal. The great thing is you can do as much or as little as you can; it’s still just as satisfying.

I’ve created a Pinterest board (how I wish it was around when I was planning my wedding!) full of wedding inspiration, ideas, tutorials, and, let’s be honest, stuff I just love the look of. I’ve also included some of my wedding items which you can find in my Etsy store, along with other great handmade items you can buy.

Here are a few of my faves from the board so far:

  • Wildflower confetti – make cones out of a sheet of paper and fill with pretty petals.

Petal confetti

  • Looking for musical inspiration? This book contains some great song suggestions, plus a few hints and tips on the big day. Includes a foreword from Rock ‘n’ Roll Bride’s very own Kat!

Wedding music book

  • Try your hand at making these gorgeous wedding favour lollies – get the tutorial here.

DIY wedding lollies

 

If you’re looking for something simple to make with inexpensive materials, I’ve got a tutorial here for you – origami heart cards. They’re very quick to fold once you get the hang of them, and can be used in various way. Hover over the pics in the gallery below for step-by-step instructions:

 

These would make nice simple (and cheap to post!) save the date memos:

P1040401

You could use these to decorate the tops of your favour boxes (simply glue together if you don’t want to use as a card):

Favour box decorationOr, use them for a place setting – or a place setting/box topper combined. You could even write a personal message on the inside:

Place setting

 

The nice thing about these is you don’t need to get special origami paper – you can even cut down bog standard printer paper into squares. This is great for getting the exact size you want – just experiment!

 

Enjoy x

 

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Craft Inspiration Tutorial

All Things Spring! Crafts and Inspirations

Spring is one of my favourite times of year. There’s so much newness going on it’s hard not to get inspired! From colour palettes to tutorials, I’ve started scouring the web to find the best ideas of the season. Here are a few of my favourites:

  • Painted twigs

Spring twigs

So pretty – and such a simple idea!

  • Edible flower lollies

Lollies

Adding edible flowers (e.g. rose petals, lavender) to your homemade lolly molds looks gorgeous. Hopefully it will be warm enough for ice lollies this spring…

  • Pom pom bunny

Pom pom bunnies

Because pom poms. And because bunnies. Tutorial found here.

  • Spring weekly planner

Spring planner

Oh planning, I love planning. This pink spring set is available from WendyPrints over on etsy. Time to get those to do lists looking fabulous!

  • Plant shelves

Spring ladder

This idea of using an old ladder as shelves for your potted plants looks stunning. A great way of adding some spring colour to even the smallest garden.

You can follow my spring Pinterest board here for more ideas.