Lampion basteln - eine schöne Variante aus dem Drucker mit Vorlage

Ein Lampion basteln aus Pappe oder Pappmaschee ist schön, aber klappt nicht immer. Diese Variante ist schnell, schön, und individuell. Ich konnte keine Vorlage finden für einem Lampion den man ausdrucken kann, also habe ich selbst eine Lampion-Vorlage entwickelt.

Schmetterlinge aus Ahorn und Esche

Einfacher geht fast nicht; aus Ahornsamen und Samen von Esche und Zweige, lassen diese Schmetterlinge und Libellen sich leicht basteln.

Geburtstagsessen: Bienen, Käfer, Igel, Schnecken und Spinnen

 
Basteln mit Essen macht viel Spaß. Diese Teller mit Bienen, Käfer und Libellen sind eine farbige Angelegenheit geworden, und schmeckten zudem gut!

Weihnachtssterne aus Pappelblätter

 


Die Anleitung hatte auf Englisch geschrieben  und später als deutsche Version als Pdf illustriert. Ihr findet diese HIER.

Die Schritte sind einfach.

1. Blätter Sammeln und Trocknen
2. Sortieren in groß und klein und nach symmetrie
3. Der große Kreis aus 6 Blätter basteln
4. Der kleine Kreis aus 3 Blätter basteln
5. Der kleine Kreis auf dem großen Kreis kleben. Mit 2 Papierscheiben, 1x vorne und 1x hinten, geht das einfacher.
6. Aufhängen

Handcrafting globes - with free software

When you like handcrafts and are fascinated by the earth and space, you probably imagine whether you could make a high quility globe out of cardboard, or even a lamp. The answer is yes, and you can do it even for free. Here I explain how. Some parts may seem difficult, but I encourage to try it.

Making a snowflake-star from tree leaves

If you like to work with natural materials, you will probably enjoy this idea to make a snowflake or star from tree leaves. For this project I used leaves from the silverleaf poplar which already have a white satin surface.

First dry the leaves. You can use any method for flat drying; e.g. put them between soft kitchen paper, put those between layers of newspaper, put some heavy books on it and let it dry for some days. The fresher the leaves and the slower the drying the better your leaves will look. I used older leaves picked in December which fell off weeks before, and dried them fast by putting the paper layers on the heater, with a less than perfect result, but still satisfying. For a snowflake you need 6 larger leaves and three (or six) smaller ones, each set having leaves of similar size and shape.




Arrange the six lager leaves in 'two layers'; a lower triangle and an upper triangle with the side points of the leaves touching as in the picture, giving a snowflake with 6 large peaks and 6 small peaks. Note that some leaves are bending left or right, and you need to try till the composition is making a nice star. Glue the overlapping parts together. I used white glue for wood, which does not leave visible spots.



In the next step I used yarn to stabilize the leaf stems, create a central point and find a balance point to have the structure later hanging on (with the yarn thread going up in the picture).

















Use the three remaining leaves to make another symmetrical structure (break off the stems and use glue), preferably with three large and three small spikes. In this case I chose to 'split the lower small spike', breaking radial symmetry but retaining mirror symmetry. It just did not fit nicely otherwise. Since I already decided what is the top (in the step finding balance point), this does not attract attention when put right.

Now put the parts together with glue. You can see here that when put right it does not immediately stand out that they have different symmetry. Note the loop of the yarn, that will disappear behind the top when hung.

A small hint on hanging the structure; taping the yarn to something may result in falling of the snowflake. You can use one of the broken off leave stems and tape it to the window or other surface. Now hang the loop over the stem.

 

 

 

 

Update: here is an illustrated PDF in German for printing.

Happy holidays!  

Origami butterfly

An elegant and simple model that I designed and diagrammed back in 2002 (or so): Origami Butterfly by JE. Sorting out my designs made me clear that there is enough to diagram and share, from jungle animals and plants to flying seeds that really fly. Well, maybe one day...

At least I can share this one with you.

Feel free to distribute!