Today's craft is a shade made for a battery-operated tealight, which are currently available wherever Halloween frippery is sold (i.e. the drug store, the supermarket, Home Depot, Target, Walmart, etc.). I like hiding the plastic fakeness of the tealight behind the warm texture of tissue paper. Make a bunch of these (they are surprisingly quick and easy to make) and scatter them around the room for your next gathering. They are, of course, well-suited to Halloween set-ups, but I think they add a cozy touch to any occasion. Start by snipping an inch and a half (or so) from a cardboard toilet-paper tube. Pull out and unfold your gorgeous multi-color packet of tissue paper (available at craft stores, or online, of course). Trim a folded section from a red, an orange, and a yellow sheet. Now you're going to cut a length of paper that will match the circumference of your cardboard ring. It's been a while since I took geometry, so instead of using rulers and math, I do this easy trick. Mark the inside of the ring with a pencil, then place it on the paper so the mark lines up with the paper's edge (below, left). Roll the ring along the edge until the pencil mark hits the paper again (below, right) (yes, I went from right to left; that's just how I roll). Make a light pencil mark on the tissue paper, then remove the ring. I cut my strip of paper about a quarter-inch longer than that measurement, so I'd have some overlap. Trim the other two strips to the same size. Fold a strip in half lengthwise, then in half again, then in half again. Mark a swooping, sharp angle onto the folded paper, and cut it out. Unfold the cut paper and admire your handiwork. Then, repeat the folding/marking/cutting steps with the other two colors of paper. Fold the red paper piece back up, and stack the three cut and folded pieces with the yellow on the bottom, orange in the middle, and red on top. Align the colors so the tips of the flames will be staggered in height, as shown, with the yellow the tallest and the red the shortest. Trim the bottom ends of the three folded papers in a single snip, leaving at least an inch and a half (the height of your cardboard ring) in length below the flame-shaped bits. Apply glue stick to the outside of your cardboard ring, then smooth the unfolded yellow piece around it, lining up their bottom edges. Repeat with the orange and the red. Place a battery-operated tealight inside, and you're ready to go. It looks cool when it's light out, and extra cool when it's nice and dark. Have fun! xo!
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March 2017
AuthorI'm Debbie Way, an artist and writer who enjoys making things. |
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