by Linda | Jan 14, 2011 | DIY printables
As promised, I’m back with a few more paper templates for various house shapes and buildings. I thought it would be cool to explore other types of buildings…sort of creating a village or quaint town with paper. Here you can see that I created a little paper birdhouse shape, a tall tower house and a swirly roof building. Still some kinks to work out and much learnings in creating templates, but the results are cool to look at either way.
There are those little details to consider and brush up on though…how big tabs should be in proportion to the object itself and how your final project looks at different angles. I’ve realized that double sided paper would really make the houses look more finished in the end. Or just use colored cardstock as I did with the birdhouse roof. Let me know if you have any tips, suggestions or requests! If you haven’t seen yet, check out the regular house and home templates post. And below you can download this next set of three – birdhouse, tall tower and swirly roof building.
Download zip file of birdhouse template, tall tower house and swirly roof building
Let me know what you think and if you have fun with these – perhaps constructing them with the kids? If I had access to a mega copier I would enlarge the templates to a bigger size and see what comes of it. Imagine a little paper miniland! You can also just use the template shapes and create your own house designs and decorations. Above all, have fun! Ciao ciao for now.
by Linda | Dec 31, 2010 | DIY printables
I had previously posted a bag and box template, but those templates actually came out of my original experimentation with creating a house with paper. Actually, it all started with a birdhouse template video I saw by Marion Smith and I thought I could create my own version of a house or home from that idea. After a bunch of prototypes I’ve realized there are two options possible and I’ve included both below for download, so you can play along! One version has the roof separated, so it can overhang on top of the house shape…the other is just all one piece folded up like a box. Simpler in some respects but you don’t get the overhanging of the roof detail…
From experimenting, I’ve realized there are a lot of details to figure out in creating a template. I’m sure more can be perfected in regards to what I’ve posted, but I’m happy to have figured out that I can do it myself! It’s fun to realize that really we can make any shape we want and of course the thicker the cardstock the more sturdy it will be in the end. I suppose you can use the template to create the shape with any material type that is sturdy enough!
Download house templates PDF files
In my examples I’ve used regular copy paper which results in a flimsy structure. Not only that, it’s hard to glue everything together when the paper is not so sturdy – go with wet adhesive if possible! I’m sure I’ll be trying out other shapes and exploring more papercrafting and design on them as well. I like to create these custom little pieces, super fun and now I’m thinking I can create an entire village so the kids can play with them…cool! Let me know if you have any requests or ideas as well 🙂 Enjoy!
Also, let me take a moment to say – have a fabulous holiday season and a MEGA Happy New Year – until 2011! Ciao ciao!
by Linda | Dec 22, 2010 | DIY printables
Sorry for the confusion with my last template – it’s more of a bag not a box. But that mixup inspired me to share the actual box… I had actually created this first in all my experimentation. It’s amazing how one template can grow into a bunch of variations…so watch out for even more templates I’ll be sharing. For now, here’s the square box template for holiday treats.
Download FREEBIE Holiday Treats Square Box Template
Download Holiday Treats Square Box Template PDF
Here are some photos to show how it looks constructed, just a square box with a top that closes with a flap. Really simple and easy to create. I’ve also shown a bottom view, so you see how it’s like many box flaps that you slip together and it stays put, especially once you put some goodies inside. If you are putting in heavy items, you can of course just glue the bottom to secure as well. Using a nice cardstock weight will make this box stronger as well – enjoy!
Looking For More FREE Printables?
I hope you enjoy using this freebie Holiday Treats Square Box Template printable. Be sure to check out the archive full of freebies. Happy downloading and happy printing!
by Linda | Dec 20, 2010 | DIY printables
For our Christmas dinner this year, I’ve been trying a few different ways to incorporate a papercraft into our table setting. Obvious option is to make a festive place card. In experimenting and playing around I somehow ended up with a treat box instead. Not sure if I’ll be using this for our table setting, but I figured since it’s a cute template I’ve already created…might as well share!
Download Christmas Candy Cane Treat Box Template
You basically just fold along the dotted line guides and then cut out the whole shape. You glue the white flap to the inside and fold up the bottom flaps in the order numbered, slipping the last flap into the slit that remains. So it seals up nicely by itself. These would be a great Christmas treat boxe as party favors or punch a hole and hang them up in a garland…lots of possibilities. I was thinking to put names in the circle label so they could actually be place cards… but I’m just not sure I want to give everyone treats before dinner 🙂 Let me know what you think and enjoy!
[update]
To try to make it clearer, I’m adding a photo of my sample, so you can sort of see what it looks like. Basically, the circle label is on the front side of the long top flaps. I’ve just attached them by punching a hole and tying with ribbon, but you could staple or punch two holes to string ribbon through. For the box itself, I guess more of a bag – you basically fold the entire paper along those dotted line guides. Then it’ll be easy to glue the white flap to the inside. Then the bottom section doesn’t really require glue at all, just push down the flaps in the order numbered and the fourth flap is slipped into the slit… you might have seen this kind of construction in other boxes. Really simple… have fun!
by Linda | Apr 28, 2010 | DIY printables
Looking for a free printable paper dolls? Check out my template here that is free to download and print. A great DIY crafty activity to do with the kids.
Today I decided to revisit my old paper doll template because I wanted to change up the proportions and create variations. Let me share a new printable paper dolls template with you.
I recently read a post on Violette’s blog about leveraging a drawing, reusing it multiple times or perhaps creating variations by making multiple copies to work with. I don’t know why, but previously I always thought I had to create everything from scratch.
It’s the romantic assumption that original must be better?! I realized that it’s just crazy to limit myself like that. Why I am creating rules to box myself in, right? When you draw something, if you keep working on it, them you can experiment even more.
I suppose the idea of copying – even if it’s yourself – seemed wrong. My thoughts suddenly drifted to discussions and debates about how nothing is original and we all build our work on top of those before us. And that’s a whole other discussion….
Suffice to say, I sort of had an epiphany and have freed myself to do whatever I want. I can reuse my own drawings and I don’t have to work from scratch each and every time at all.
It’s funny how sometimes we get so deep into our work that we lose sight of the big picture. I totally lost perspective regarding the freedom of creation and the fact that there are no rules.
Glad to get that out! So, all this led me to revisit my printable paper dolls template, creating two different body proportions to play with.
Feel free to download the free printable PDF below. Use to your heart’s content and I hope you have fun with it! The first page is meant to be cut out and put together to make a moveable printable paper doll and the second page is just the outline to draw directly onto if you want the full piece.
Download Printable Paper Dolls PDF
I used the printable paper dolls to play around with body positions. You can place the parts in a certain way with temporary glue or tacky glue and trace over to experiment with drawing different positions.
It can serve as a nice guide for drawing the body form… or you can just make yourself some pretty paper dolls. That is definitely fun as well, especially with your kids!
I started to work in my art journal and on one page I drew a granny and a scary girl doll then made a photocopy. Now I can always have the original to experiment with and I can cut out the copy for collage.
Hope you are inspired to go make some paper dolls and copy your own Art! Sounds funny, but sort of daring too, huh?
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