Category: Paper

Paper Flower

unikatissima Paper Flower

Links of entry

I found an instruction for a nice paper flower and thought that this should work with self-coloured paper, too.
It did ;-)

 

unikatissima Paper Flower First I painted on a sheet of toilet paper with some markers.

 

unikatissima Paper Flower I dropped water on my ‘painting’, but it was a little too much water and everything swam.
In order not to get everything dirty I have put it luckily on an old little plastic bag.

 

unikatissima Paper Flower Therefore I put another sheet of toilet paper onto the first, the water and the dye dispersed on both.
I blow-dried everything to dry it faster ;-)

 

unikatissima Paper Flower I cut my papers by guess and by gosh, that is to say without a pre-sketched spiral and my scissors were quite blunt.

 

unikatissima Paper Flower That may be the reason why my little ‘roses’ look so beautiful ;-)

 


Links:
Paper Flower – the tutorial works backwards, you must always click the previous picture to get the next step

Papier-mâché Faux Bois

poopscape Papier-mache Faux Bois

Links of entry

I’ve seen several paper maché objects, but jars looking like stumps are still something special to me.
Something especially cute ;-))

I’m not totally sure that I should make them myself ;-), but I liked them so much that I wanted to present them here.

Furthermore I didn’t know this paper maché preparation, I really like to give a try some day.


Links:
Papier-mâché Faux Bois
via One Pretty Thing

Wine Glass Candle Lampshades

unikatissima Glass Candle Lampshade

Links of entry

I found the instruction on how to make wine glass candle lampshades neat, but I don’t have to rely on pre-made templates any more, because I know how to construct a cone ;-))
That’s exactly what I’ve done, additionally I didn’t use no wine glass but a water glass.

 

unikatissima Glass Candle Lampshade Admittedly a wine glass would look better, because the tea light is hidden then.
Or I should cover the lower part of the water glass.
Or I should make the cone higher (and I can ;-)).

I made my lampshade from sandwich paper which is actually too fine and doesn’t hold the shape (in the instruction they are using vellum). To improve this I taped some clear tape against the paper from the inside.
But it didn’t help very much.

 

unikatissima Glass Candle Lampshade Before I cut the lampshade I embellished it with some flourishes – looks cute, doesn’t it?

 

This is my cone calculation (shortened version):
Desired data:
Height H = 6 cm
Upper radius Rt = 3 cm
Lower radius Rb = 5 cm

Calculation:
PQ = Rt * H / (Rb – Rt) = 9
QT = 3
PT = sqrt(81 + 9) = 9,5
PR = 15
RS = 5
PS = sqrt(225 + 25) = 15,8

That is:
Outer radius = 15,8 cm
Inner radius = 9,5 cm

a = 360 * (1 – ((2 * Pi * Rb) / (2 * Pi * PS))) = 360 * (1 – (31,4 / 94,8) ˜ 241°

Great, isn’t it? ;-)

As you can also see on the topmost photo, another advantage of self-calculation is that the upper rim of the lampshade barely protrude over the rim of the glass and therefore the danger of fire is reduced.
Anyhow: Always be careful!
;-)


Links:
Wine Glass Candle Lampshades

Here at unikatissima: Calculation of a cone on the basis of the desired height, desired upper and lower diameter

Fun Recycled Food Package Lights

unikatissima Recycled Food Package Lights

Links of entry

I found an instruction on how to make fun lights from ‘silly’ food packages.
I really like them and wanted to try them immediately.
Therefore I took a look at my kitchen and found the joghurt cup. I thought that the light should shine through and I began with pricking some ‘test holes’.
Looks interesting, doesn’t it?

 

unikatissima Recycled Food Package Lights In fact I found the hole pattern around the lettering the most interesting.

 

unikatissima Recycled Food Package Lights What I also liked was that the lower holes made a nice light pattern.

 


Links:
Fidgety Fingers: Fun Recycled Food Package Lights
via Junk Mail Gems – DIY Christmas Gifts from Inhabitat

Card with Paper Ornament

unikatissima Card with Paper Ornament

Links of entry

I found the umpteenth instruction on how to cut a snowflake from paper, but this time the snowflake looked so much more beautiful than usually.
I made immediately a card with non winterly coloured advertising junk mail paper :)


Links:
Fidgety Fingers: Magazine Manifesto – Paper Snow

Here at unikatissima: Kirigami Flower

Beverage Carton Crochet

Links of entry

(Click photo to enlarge)
Once I’ve seen a fashion photo where I’ve been really impressed by the garment.
Recently, when I drank my apple juice, I thought: ‘Yes, that’s the right material in the right colour for this!’

 

Therefore I figured out how to make it.

And that’s what you do:

First cut the (washed! ;-)) beverage carton in pieces and, if you like, you can arrange the pieces in a pattern that suits you best (best done on a stiff pad, then you can carry it away carefully, if necessary).

I cut my pieces just as I liked to (there is another garment), but regular shapes, square e.g. are not bad either. They were used in yet another garment (here a detail photo).

 

I didn’t arrange anything and on this photo I’m checking whether the piece fits at this place.

 

Subsequently prick holes into the cardboard. Try to get a regular spacing between the holes.

Please note that the holes may not be placed too closely to the edge!
I had to throw away some of my snippets because the thread ripped the hole.

 

That’s how my snippet looked like after the piercing from both sides.
The cardboard has a nice silver coloured internal coating which makes also the backside look good.

 

Afterwards I took my pierced snippet and surrounded it using a tapestry needle with button hole stitches with cotton thread.

 

The surrounding is finished.

I worked quite loosely to 1. get on easier with the crochet (see next step) and 2. keep my snippet in shape.

 

Afterwards I crocheted single crochet stitches single crochet stitches around the surrounding thread with the same thread.
Mostly I crocheted 2 single crochet stitches, sometimes even 3.
At the corners I crocheted 1 to 2 chain stitches chain stitches between the single crochets.

 

I then worked chains chains of about 5 stitches into the single crochets.

 

I joined the chains chains with the chains of the already finished item immediately when crocheting.

 

That’s what I’ve done until now.
I can imagine making a sommer vest from it, a belt or the top flap of a cute purse.
But I haven’t decided yet ;-))

 


Links:
My inspiration at Marella Ferrera Alta Moda:
Fall/Winter 98/99 – L’Isola dei Ciclopi
Fall/Winter 03/04 – Isola di Terracotta
Fall/Winter 03/04 – Isola di Ceramica
Fall/Winter 03/04 – Isola di Ceramica – Detail

Embroidery stitches:
Button hole stitch instruction (English)
Button hole stitch instruction (German)

Crochet stitches:
Chain (English)
The original site doesn’t exist any more and is now available through webarchive:
Chain (English)
Chain (German)

Single crochet (English)
The original site doesn’t exist any more and is now available through webarchive:
Single crochet (English)
Single crochet (German)

Here at unikatissima:
Crochet Joining
Clothes From Crocheted Medaillons

Floating Paper

unikatissima Floating Paper

Links of entry

Once I found the instruction on how to preserve leaves with beeswax. This way you can make the leaves for float on water.
I really liked the idea, but it is winter now and I thought that you can do the same with paper, similar to the beeswax collage.
Then I thought further and found out, that paper floats without wax also (goes muuuuch swifter! ;-))).

On the first photo you see a glass bowl with a simple tea light, the paper snippets are from some advertising junk mail.

 

unikatissima Floating Paper For this photo I thought even further (which wasn’t easy ;-)) and spread on some confetti from the hole puncher.
I like it!

 

The only problem was the disposal when I wanted to throw away the confetti. I couldn’t fish them out without problems. Therefore I put a piece of tissue paper onto the gutter of my kitchen sink so that no confetti could pass through, and poured slowly the bowl on the tissue paper (if you pour too fast the tissue paper can slip). The water went through and the confetti assembled onto the tissue paper, so that I simply had to throw away the tissue paper with the confetti.


Links:
Preserving Leaves with Beeswax for Floating on Water

Here at unikatissima: Beeswax Collage

Candle Lit Photo Stands

unikatissima Candle Lit Photo Stand

Links of entry

When there comes the time again where you can sit on your patio and dine with friends (ok, ok, it will still take some time, but a woman can dream ;-)), the candle lit photo stands can make a romantic atmosphere.
In the instruction they print their own photos on vellum and glue them on, I preferred my favourite gift wrap.
Besides you should also be able to use the topmost layer of the used paper napkins (possibly glued on vellum), then everything matches even better.


Links:
Photo Centerpiece