Space Place family workshops are offered every Saturday at 10 a.m. for children ages 6-10 and their parents. The workshops are free and open to the public. No registration is required.
If you can’t attend this workshop, don’t despair. Madison on the Cheap loves paper craft projects and we’ve found some nifty websites and blogs for those of you who want to try your hand at making paper rockets:
Regular readers know we’re fond of paper craft projects and we often post times about free paper craft projects. Today, we discovered a book that provides all sorts of useful information about how to make paper craft projects: “Paper Engineering and Pop-ups For Dummies.”
Amazon.com is currently offering the book for $14.95 (32% off the regular price) and it’s eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
But we found something that reduces the price even further: A $5 rebate offer from the Dummies publisher if you purchase any Dummies book that costs at least $6.99 by April 30th, 2010, download and print the special rebate form; and mail it in along with the necessary proofs of purchase.
In order to build your own Cheshire Cat, you’ll need to download and unzip a PDF file. You can find the link under the second image in the blog post. We tried it and encountered no problems. There are some assembly instructions in the blog post.
Have fun, but be careful: The craft knives and scissors you may need to assemble the cat are not children’s toys.
Thanks to Falkk at Paper Forest for the tip about this project.
Jaroslav Juřica, a graduate of the Swedish Lund University School of Industrial Design, has posted a very clever working paper pin-hole camera for FREE download on the Hubero Kororo website.
Hubero Kororo is a design group based in the Czech Republic and the written instructions for assembling the camera are in Czech. This should not prove to be a huge obstacle to success however, since (1) the instructions are amply illustrated and (2) you can always use an online translation tool such as Google Translate to help yourself convert the text to English.
Rubikon is a cut-out, which becomes a functioning camera (camera obscura) after putting together. In 1979 the ABC magazine published a jigsaw called Dirkon, which paraphrased the at that time very popular single-lensed reflex cameras. Rubikon, as a redesign has come back to react to the digital techno.
The cut-out Rubikon was first published in 2005 in the 8. issue of the ABC magazine, 25 years after introducing Dirkon. Since that time it has been also published in foreign media dealing with photography. Rubikon is also used as a teaching aid at some schools of photography and elementary schools.
The Rubikon – camera obscura is distributed free of charge in PDF format. Before putting it together, read the manual carefully, please! I will be very grateful for any feedback, comment and idea for improvement.
Rubikon of author Jaroslav Juřica is subjected to Creative Commons license Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 Unported Czech Republic.
If you decide to make this pin-hole camera, Izzy the Intern wants to again remind you to “Have fun, but be careful: Craft knives and scissors are not children’s toys.”
Thanks to Shelley Noble at Paper Forest for this tip.
The “Nutcracker” story is traditionally told from Clara’s point of view; but in A Nutty Nutcracker Christmas,a book based on the hit musical by the popular family music rock star Ralph Covert and playwright G. Riley things have been upside down: Clara’s naughty brother Fritz is the protagonist and the Nutcracker is (gasp!) a girl.
We discovered the book on the Paper Forest blog while searching for more Christmas-related paper craft projects. There is a “paper window show” associated with the book — and you may download and print a copy.
Curious to learn more, we made a few more clicks with our mouse (which is not related to The Mouse King) and discovered a short YouTube video featuring animated versions of parts of story. The video also includes some of the music included on the bonus CD of songs, which comes with the book and features a read-aloud track with the music and story woven together.
After we watched the video and saw how the completed project worked, we became pretty excited about the hoops&yoyo “paper automata” paper craft project — even though it requires adult supervision.
That said, we’re not entirely sure we understand what “this dynamic little pink kitty & green bunny duo” is all about… They appear to be a Hallmark product and they’re animated and they have their own website. In any case, we really like this paper craft project. Have we said that before?
Watch the YouTube video about this project and if you want to make your own “paper automata,” download the free parts and pieces and the instruction sheet and get to work! Remember, however that adult supervision is required. Here’s why: “There’s lots of cutting and gluing and putting stuff together in twisty-turny ways that might make you cry if you don’t get it just right.”
Thanks to Matt at Paper Forest for the tip about this project.
Dover Publications is having a “Secret Sale,” but it only lasts until December 1st. Until then, you can save $20 on an online order of $40 or more: Just use the coupon code HLP2 during checkout.
Since its founding in 1941, Dover Publications has built its reputation by offering remarkable products at amazing prices. There are many “old-fashioned” books in Dover’s catalogue of more than 9,000 titles. For instance, they have scores of paper craft books such as the “Easy-to-Make Nativity Scene” shown here. Normally $9.99, the book is on sale for $5.
If your family celebrates Hanukkah, you may be interested in the “Jewish Holidays and Traditions Coloring Book” ($3.95) or “Jewish Holiday Origami” ($5.95), which features clearly detailed diagrams and captions explaining all the steps for an entire year’s worth of holiday projects — from Chanukah dreidels and a menorah with candles, to Passover pyramids and an image of the Red Sea parting.
If you’ve never browsed through this marvelous, eclectic catalogue, take the time to do so. Then act quickly if you want to take advantage of this special sale.
Too often we think about Advent calendars when it’s “too late” because the countdown to Christmas has already begun. Or we see one we think we want, but discover it’s too expensive for our budget. Or we see one that’s so cheap and flimsy its manufacturer should find nothing but a lump of coal in its Christmas stocking.
This year, we’re going to make one of our own, using some of the FREE downloadable paper craft patterns available on the Internet.
The Advent calendar shown on the left was designed by Ayaka Hirao/Takako Takahashi and the pattern and assembly instructions are available as a PDF download at Canon’s online “Creative Park.” Another Advent calendar we like is available as a PDF download on author Jan Brett’s homepage.
You’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download these paper craft designs. If you don’t already have this program on your computer, you may download it free by using this link.
Have fun, but be careful: The craft knives and scissors you’ll need to assemble the calendar are not children’s toys.
Here’s another free paper craft turkey to download and assemble. It was designed by Christopher Bonnette, whose Macula Art website is filled with wonderful things.
The website uses frames, so you’ll have to make a couple of clicks to locate this particular bird, since it doesn’t have a unique URL that we can use in a link, Once you’ve arrived at the website, click on the sidebar link for Sketch Blog. This will expose some new items in the sidebar. Click on Downloads, then click on Paper Craft. Use the pull-down menu at the top of the page to select the Thanksgiving Turkey.
The download comes with a complete set of instructions. Have fun, but be careful: Craft knives and scissors are not children’s toys.
If you’re hosting Thanksgiving Dinner this year, it’s not too soon to start thinking about table decorations. The Hewlett-Packard website (hp.com) has some delightful Autumn and Thanksgiving paper craft ideas for you to download, print, and construct. And they’re free. However, you’ll have to supply your own printer, ink, and paper.
We particularly liked this turkey table decoration in the section for “kids table” projects. Other paper craft projects include place mats, coasters, and name cards.
Ray O’Bannon’s wonderfully creepy RavensBlight Toy Shop has all sorts of free “haunted” paper toys online for you to print out, construct and enjoy.
Here’s what O’Bannon has to say about his unusual paper craft collection:
“The toys include a hearse playset, coffin gift boxes (with occupants), a little cemetery, several unusual board games, a gloomy little haunted house, a rusty old-style robot, and quite a few other dark delights. So pick out some toys, print out the pattern pages, and with a few common supplies like scissors and glue you’re ready to create all these strange little curiosities. I hope you’ll enjoy them all.”
These “haunted” paper toys are great for Halloween and relatively cheap to make. All you need is Adobe Acrobat to download the PDF patterns, a printer, HEAVY card stock, some scissors, some Elmer’s glue sticks, and a bit of patience and attention to detail.
Izzy the Intern is always wary about telling children to use scissors and wants to be certain they do so only under parental supervision. O’Bannon seems to be in totally agreement. Here’s what he has to say on the subject:
“I’ve found Elmer’s Glue Sticks to be very useful in building these toys. Also, you can be extra fussy and carefully blacken the edges of the toy parts with a black marker to get rid of the occasional white edges here and there. When folding the parts, its critical to fold them as precisely on the lines as possible. And above all, never rush it! These toys won’t take very long for you to build, but working slowly and carefully is important. And a final word about using the scissors and X-acto knife…They are SHARP! They can HURT YOU! So always be carefull. Open bleeding lacerations = BAD! Happy little monster kids with new toys = GOOD!”
Download patterns for a free set of five adorable paper toys from Fantastic Toys, print them on 60 lb. cardstock, round up some ordinary household tools such as scissors and tape and — voila! — you have a great activity for a rainy day or when the kids are getting a little bored. The shapes are fairly simple to cut out so even younger children can give it a try under parental supervision.
The patterns are from designer Timothy Haugen, who makes handcrafted collectible toys. He began his toy venture making vintage-inspired art toys, including fantastic miniature animal dolls, marionettes and hand puppets. Now he also designs adorable soft toys and other goodies that are available exclusively on at his Etsy shop.
Thanks to Jaime Zollars at Paper Forest for this tip.
Remember the candy you used to buy growing up? Buy them now from Candy.com
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DISCLAIMER
We post deals as we find them, but schedules sometimes change and everything has an expiration date. Prices and promotions are always subject to change without notice. It's always wise to call ahead and make certain a bargain is still available or an event has not been canceled.
a book based on the hit musical by the popular family music rock star Ralph Covert and playwright G. Riley things have been upside down: Clara’s naughty brother Fritz is the protagonist and the Nutcracker is (gasp!) a girl.
