Blow-Up Paper Ball Card

Blow-Up Paper Ball Card

The best thing about these uniquely coloured paper balls is that you can send them flat as cards to be blown up on arrival.

YOU'LL NEED:
  • Tracing paper, min 2 sheets
  • Ecoline
  • Paint brushes
  • Pencil
  • Precision knife
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • 100 mm plastic bauble (1, as a mould)
  • Cutting mat
  • Piece of string, we used Sajou Tonkin Thread
  • Jar/bowl
  • Plastic bag / sheet to protect your surface
  • 1 piece of medium-weight chipboard (card)
  • Home printer
DOWNLOAD(S):
Step One
Step One

Prepare a working surface with plastic so it can get wet and dirty, make enough space for several sheets of paper. Fill some old bowls or jars with regular tap water and get out your ecoline and brushes.
Step Two
Step Two

Using a clean brush, wet an area of the surface larger than your sheets of paper.
Step Three
Step Three

Using a different clean brush for every color (or rinsing very well in between colors) splodge or dab the different colors of ecoline next to each other on the wet area.
Step Four
Step Four

Take the first sheet of tracing paper and gently lay it on the color and water. You can softly tap on the paper here and there to guide the paint or to enlarge it's surface contact.
Step Five
Step Five

Lift off the paper, rotate it 90 degrees clockwise and gently lay it back on.
Step Six
Step Six

Repeat step five until you like the look of your paper. You can always add more paint or water in between rotations. When the sheet is done lay it to the side so it can dry.
Step Seven
Step Seven

Repeat step three - six for at least one more sheet as you will need about two sheets to make 1 paper ball. If the paint on your surface becomes too mixed up you can simply wipe it clean with paper towels and start again.
TIP
TIP

When painting the paper there are of course endless options to explore. Think about how to spread the paint, how to rotate and how many colors to use.
Step Eight
Step Eight

When you have finished making your paper leave it to dry while you print off the template provided. Firmly glue at least one wedge shape and one circle to a piece of chipboard.
Step Nine
Step Nine

Cut out the wedge, slot, outer and inner circle along the dashed line using a precision knife. Don't try to go through the card in one go - for a safer and cleaner cut, carefully trace over the line several times letting the knife do the work.
Step Ten
Step Ten

Take one of your painted sheets of paper and draw round the wedge template four times (don't forget to trace a line through the slot!) and the circle once, including the inner circle. Do the same on a second sheet but this time don't trace the inner circle, only the outer.
Step Eleven
Step Eleven

Cut out the pieces using a pair of scissors. Take care not to cut along the line you made through the slot. You should get 8 wedges and 2 circles, one of which has a smaller hole in it.
Step Twelve
Step Twelve

Fold the 8 wedges in half so that the pencil line stays on the outside and the edges of the paper neatly align.
Step Thirteen
Step Thirteen

Take one wedge and put some glue on the pointiest end, on the side with the pencil line. Stick this to the circle without a hole, so the right corner sits in the middle of the circle.
Step Fourteen
Step Fourteen

Take your next wedge and apply glue along the marked edge from the pointy end up to the fold.
Step Fifteen
Step Fifteen

Place your circle and wedge on your plastic bauble and glue your second wedge to the right edge of the first, aligning with the pencil line. Use the bauble as a mould otherwise the wedges will not line up.
TIP
TIP

You can place your plastic bauble on a roll of tape or a towel to stop it rolling away.
Step Sixteen
Step Sixteen

Repeat step fourteen and fifteen for the remaining 6 wedges. Make sure you glue the last wedge to the first one to close the shape. Keep the paper on the bauble, the next stage is to fold up the 'petals' into a dome shape.
Step Seventeen
Step Seventeen

Fold the wedge you glued last up on itself. Apply glue between the pencil line and the left edge. Now take the wedge to the left of it and fold that back up on itself too - thus glueing it to the previous one. Again, follow the pencil line.
Step Eighteen
Step Eighteen

Repeat Step Seventeen for the rest of the wedges, each time glueing the wedge to the left to the previous one, until you close the shape.
Step Nineteen
Step Nineteen

Take the circle with the hole in the center and a piece of string. Lay the string through the hole and put glue along the outer edge of the circle.
Step Twenty
Step Twenty

Glue it to the top of the paper ball where the wider wedge ends meet. Take care stick it to the outer layer of paper only.
Step Twenty-one
Step Twenty-one

Wait for your glue to dry fully then blow into the hole to inflate!

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