Take & Make Craft Kit: Paper Gnome House

  I introduced this to-go craft kit as a way to use up some paper soup cups I had in storage.    

Supplies provided in the kit:
Square of patterned paper
Glue dots (5)
Paper cup
Colored pens (3)

 

What you need from home:
Scissors
Optional: Glitter glue, buttons, sequins, craft foam, etc. for decorating

 

Instructions: 
Every gnome house is unique!

Use scissors to cut off, or round off, all four corners of your paper square. Make it into a circle-like shape. Your circle, or squircle, does not need to be perfectly symmetrical. In fact, a non-perfect squircle will give your gnome house a special charm!

2.     Fold the squircle in half one way. Unfold. Fold the squircle in half another way. Unfold. Where the two folds meet is the approximate center of the squircle. Look at your paper squircle shape. Choose which pattern, or side, you want to show, and which will be hidden underneath (the backside). Use a pen to make a dot in the center of the squircle on the backside of the paper.

3.      On the backside of the squircle shape, draw two straight lines from the center dot to the edge. This should look somewhat triangular, like the shape of a piece of pie. Use scissors to cut out the pie wedge using the lines for guidance.

4.      Holding onto the squircle shape, overlap the two corners made by the pie wedge cut out. Overlap these two corners as little or as much as you want until you make the cone shape you desire. This cone will become the roof of your gnome house. When the cone shape is how you like it, use two glue dots to hold the paper cone in place.

 

5.      Place the paper cup in front of you, bottom side up. Place three glue dots around the bottom edge of the paper cup. Gently press the cone over these glue dots. Double check to make sure the paper cone is touching all three glue dots.

 

6.      Use the color pens to draw a door on the outside of the paper cup. Also, use the pens to decorate the outside of your gnome house. You can add windows, plants, animals, mushrooms, or whatever you think is needed. Be very careful when handling the gnome house as you decorate it. The color pen ink smudges easily!