If
you were a reader from when I had my old blog, you would know that I
have made this before. The first time I saw it on 'The Big Bang Theory' I
knew I had to have it. When I found out it was expensive to buy one, I
made one out of cardboard and coloured paper. It was a very sloppy job so here is my attempt at making a better version!
What you need:
Plain square tissue box cover (Spotlight, $7)
A4 coloured paper: 3 x black, 1 x red, 1 x green, 1 x orange, 1 x blue, 1 x white, 1 x yellow (Spotlight, $0.80 per sheet) Double sided tape
Pencil
Ruler
Penknife
Scissors
(Note: I don't recommend using craft glue because:
1. It will be hard to be precise with the corners, therefore they will become flappy.
2. If you put too much glue or put it on unevenly, there will be creases and bumps when you stick the papers on.)
What to do:
1. Measure the height and width of each face.
2. Cut out five black sheets corresponding to the heights and widths from Step 1.
3. Carefully stick the black sheets onto all the faces using double sided tape, except for the top face.
4. Align the last black sheet on the top face and flip the box upside down. Trace the opening onto the black sheet.
5. Cut out the opening. Carefully stick the black sheet onto the top face using double sided tape.
6. Minus 2cm from the width obtained in Step 1. Divide by 3. This will
be the height and width of your coloured squares. Cut out 45 squares
(there should not be more than 9 of the same colour).
[For example, the width of my box was 13cm. ( 13cm - 2cm ) / 3 = 3.67 cm. I cut coloured squares that were 3.6cm x 3.6cm.]
7. Space 9 squares evenly on each face. Carefully Stick them on using double sided tape.
8. For the top face, cut your coloured squares to fit around the opening before sticking.
My new and improved version looks much sturdier and smoother! It's a great way to add a colourful yet geeky element to our home!
There
are so many awesome decorations you can make for the holiday season,
but this project is great if you don't want to rush out and buy a load
of fancy materials. In fact, you can probably make these decorations
with stuff you already have at home. All you need is some tissue paper,
glue and scissors to make these stunning paper honeycomb balls. And of
course, a dash of glitter for a sparkly end result!
Supplies
White tissue paper
Fine gold glitter
Glue stick
Gold metallic paint and paint brush (optional)
Cutter
Scissors
Cutting mat
Marker
Two plates
3 A4 pieces of cardboard
Ruler
Sticky tape
Thread and needle
1. Prepare the Paper
Step 1
Place two cardboard cards on the working surface next to each other.
The cardboard cards I used here are A4 size, but cardboard from
packages, like cereal boxes, will work as well. Now place a big plate or
any other circular object with a diameter of around 26cm (10in) on top
of the cardboard. Once the plate is correctly placed in a central
position, trace around the outline of the circle with a pen.
Making sure you keep the cardboard in place, remove the big plate and
place a smaller plate or another object with a diameter about 20cm (7.8
in) inside the bigger circle. Keeping it steady in the center with one
hand, trace around it using the other hand.
Step 2
Now cut out the bigger circle. You will end up with two semi-circles.
Step 3
Place one semi-circle on top of a pile of tissue paper. Keep the
tissue paper layered and aligned. Holding firmly together the cardboard
and the tissue paper, cut the tissue paper in semi-circles. Big sharp
scissors are good at cutting through all the sheets of paper at once.
For one honeycomb ball, you will need around 50 sheets of tissue
paper. Once the tissue paper semicircles are ready, cut out the inner
circle of the cardboard. Then trim along the outer edge of the cardboard
circle to give it a slightly smaller outline than the tissue paper.
2. Add the Sparkle
Step 1
Now it's time to add a bit of sparkle to the edges of the tissue
paper, which will emphasize the honeycomb design of the ball. Place the
first piece of tissue paper on some cardboard. Gently apply a layer of
glue to the edge of the semi-circle. You can either do this with a glue
stick or with craft glue and a brush. If you use the glue stick, make
sure it hasn't hardened. If you use the craft glue, use a small
quantity.
Use gentle movements that go outwards of the circle, while holding
the tissue paper in place with the other hand. Once you apply the glue,
sprinkle some glitter on top. For a more even application, you could use
a paint brush.
Step 2
When you've finished with the first sheet, shake it over the
cardboard and put it aside to dry. Then, place the excess glitter back
in the container. Repeat this process for all 50 sheets. When the glue
is dry, add some glitter to the other side as well.
Sparkle all around. Nice job!
Step 3
An alternative way to add some glamor to your honeycomb ball is to
paint the edge of the semi-circles with some gold paint. Don't dilute
the paint with water as the tissue paper is really thin and delicate.
Apply the paint by gently moving the brush around the edge of the
semi-circle.
3. Create a Guide
Step 1
You need to create a guide to help you with the gluing process. Take
an A4 piece of cardboard and measure every 4cm (1.5in). Place the card
on a cutting mat and cut out seven horizontal thin slots using a cutter
and a ruler.
Step 2
Use a black marker to mark every other slot. Attach the left edge of
your card to your working surface with some sticky tape. Now you're
ready to glue.
4. Glue the Paper
Step 1
Flip the card to the left. Place the first tissue paper semi-circle
flat on the working surface with the left side lined up against the edge
of the cardboard. Make a mark on the cardboard at the spot where it
meets the top edge of the semi-circle. By doing this, you can place all
of your sheets of tissue paper in the exact same place. The cardboard
will help you align the left edge of the tissue paper.
Step 2
Now flip the cardboard over the semi-circle, and use a soft glue
stick to glue the tissue paper through the slots in the cardboard. On
the first sheet, just glue along the black slots.
The cardboard not only helps you keep a precise line for gluing, but
it also protects the delicate tissue paper from tearing. Overall, it
makes the whole process of gluing 50 sheets of tissue paper much easier.
Step 3
Once you've glued the first sheet of tissue paper, flip the cardboard
to the left and place a new sheet of tissue paper on top of the first.
Keep in mind to place it exactly aligned to the first one. Using both
hands, rub the tissue paper to prevent any creases and to ensure the
sheets are glued together along the glue lines. Now flip the cardboard
back over again, and this time only glue along the unmarked slots.
Repeat this process, alternating between the slots, for all 50 sheets of tissue paper.
5. Bind and Open
Step 1
All you need to do now is bind the tissue paper together. First, take
the cardboard pieces you created earlier (1, step 3). Securely glue one
cardboard semi-circle on to one side of your pile of tissue paper
semi-circles, and the other on the other side.
Step 2
Thread your needle and insert it into the top corner of your
cardboard semi-circle. Make sure the loop of thread is loose, so that it
leaves enough space for all the tissue paper to open around it and form
the ball. Knot the thread and repeat the same process at the bottom
corner. Leave one end of the thread long so that you can hang the
honeycomb ball from it. Or you might like to attach some thicker thread.
Step 3
The magical moment has arrived. After all this hard work ,you can enjoy the magic of opening up your ball. Are you ready? Aaaah!
Step 4
Once open, you can glue the two cardboard pieces together. If you
want to store it for next Christmas, you may prefer to just keep the
ball open with some paper clips. When you remove the clips, you can fold
the ball back to a semi-circle for easy storage.
If you'd like to create some simple honeycomb balls without the
sparkling edge, it's best to alter the process. The best way to do this
is to first cut rectangular sheets that are comfortably bigger than your
semi-circle and glue them together. Once the honeycomb paper is glued
together, cut out the semi-circle shape to form the ball. This way, you
don't need to worry about being precise in positioning the paper while
gluing. Plus, you can cut out different shapes to create honeycomb
ornaments.
Deck the Halls with Honeycomb Balls
Once you've made a few honeycomb balls, tie them together to form a
garland or a tumbling arrangement. Honeycomb balls look best when
they're clustered together. Your house will dazzle with your sparkling
new Christmas decorations.
In this tutorial, you learned how to create a smart tool out of
cardboard that makes the honeycombing process a lot more fun - and
precise. Honeycomb paper decorations can be used for many celebrations,
like weddings and parties. You can also make smaller ornaments to adorn
cards and presents. Welcome to honeycomb magic!
Did you enjoy this project? If you have any questions or suggestions,
just leave a comment below. We'll be happy to hear from you! Have a
sparkling Christmas!
One
of the most fascinating aspects in crafting is transforming simple or
useless material and giving them new shape and a brand new use. I loved
the idea of making something out of TPR (aka toilet paper rolls). So I
decided to create a lamp out of them, with a pretty cool design. It's an
easy and fun project with a stunning end product!
Supplies
About 20 empty toilet paper rolls
Bowl
Marker
Scissors
Craft glue or hot glue gun
Black spray paint
Black acrylic paint
Paint brush
Clothes pegs
Ruler
Dust mask
1. Prepare the TPR Petals
Step 1
Fold the empty toilet paper rolls. You need to crease them along two
facing edges without completely flattening the center. Repeat the
folding process for all your rolls apart from one.
Step 2
Once the rolls are folded, use a ruler to mark measurements. Mark the
roll, using a fine tip pen along both folded edges at intervals of 2.1
cm (0.8 in). This will divide the roll into five equal pieces.
Step 3
Following the marks you made, use scissors to cut the rolls into strips of 2.1cm (0.8 in).
Step 4
After a while, you will end up having about 100 strips of a cardboard
petal shape. It is up to you how many you want to use to create the
lamp.
The cardboard petal shapes should look sharp at the edges with a
curved center, as illustrated in the image below. You also need to cut
an extra strip of the same width (2.1cm or 0.8in) out of the unfolded
paper roll.
2. Glue and Form the Lamp
Step 1
Now, place the bowl upside down on your working surface. You will use
the bowl as a base; the shape of the bowl will help you give a
hemisphere shape to your lamp.
The starting point of the design is to form a flower on the top of
the bowl. First, place the circular strip you cut from the unfolded
paper roll in the center. Then add nine petal-shaped strips around it.
Once your flower is formed, take each first strip and add some glue on
the top of both sides. Now, glue it carefully with the strips next to
it.
Step 2
Once you have added glue to all the petals of the flower, use some
clothes pegs to keep them in place, until the glue is completely dry.
For a faster process, use a hot glue gun and glue sticks. If you
choose to use a hot glue gun, you may not need the pegs to hold the
shapes together. However, you need to be a fairly familiar with using a
hot glue gun, and it can get a bit messier than gluing with the craft
glue. Just use the gluing process that works best for you.
Step 3
Now the top part of your lamp, the flower shape, is ready. Well done!
Start gluing more petal-shaped strips to the design. Just add the
strips between two existing ones. You don't need to follow a precise
pattern. Keep adding pieces, filling in the gaps to form a pleasing
design. You can even add two petals between two existing ones.
Glue them in place and secure with clothes pegs until they are firmly
glued. While you continue to add the pieces, keep in mind to follow the
shape of the bowl. Shift each petal slightly, so that gradually your
lamp forms a curved shape.
Step 4
Add petals to finalize the design of the lamp. The lower edge doesn't
need to form a straight line. On the contrary, the more asymmetric it
is, the more organic look your lamp will have. So improvise and when you
are satisfied with the result, let it dry. If you used the hot glue
gun, clean the lamp by removing any excess glue.
3. Paint it Black
Step 1
Once your lamp is dry, it's ready to be painted. A black or metallic
color works best for this project, but it's ultimately up to you.
It's best to move outside when spray-painting the lamp, and use a
dust mask for extra safety. Lay the lamp on a drop sheet of newspaper or
plastic. Spray paint is the best option because the lace-like design is
tricky to paint with a brush. Just make sure you spray it from diverse
angles. Try to paint the inner edges as well. Once it's all black, let
it dry.
Step 2
Use a paint brush and some acrylic black paint to correct any spots
and corners that are still not black for a perfect end result. Well
done!
Hang it and Enjoy!
Now your designer-style lamp is ready to hang. To do this, pass the
cable through the central hole of the lampshade before attaching it to
the ceiling. You can use some transparent thread or fishing wire to
attach it to the cable. Place it slightly higher than the globe to avoid
direct contact and heat.
In this tutorial, you learned how to transform toilet paper rolls
into an impressive lamp. You learned how to fold, cut, glue and paint
the toilet paper rolls. Using a similar technique, you could create
gorgeous flower designs, wreaths and wall decor.
Let us know if you try this project. We'd love to hear how you go. In
the meantime, do you have any cool design or craft ideas using toilet
paper rolls?
