Paper plate mermaid

Magical mermaids! Always thought the bumpy rim on a paper plate would make a good scaly tail, so that's how this project started..
We used small pieces of sponge to paint her too, which was super quick, great fun and added a bit more texture.

You will need:
Two paper plates (ours were 15cm)
Scissors
Pencil
Craft glue or a glue stick
Paint
Old sponge
Black felt tip or gel pen

1. Draw a pencil line in one of the grooves on the plate rim and roughly mark the middle point of the plate. Count about 10 bumps along and draw another line in the groove. Join the top of these two lines to the dot in the middle of the plate, but curve the lines out a bit, so they're not completely straight (this top part is going to be your mermaid's body)

2. Cut this piece out and then cut the rim away from the centre of the plate. 

Cut five pieces from the rim that are about the same size as the rim on the body piece (10 bumps). 

Glue FOUR of these pieces to the body (leave one for the end of the tail). Glue them underneath, with the bumps showing. Just concentrate on lining up the top edge, and making a nice curve here for the tail. 

Don't worry about the sticky out bits at the bottom! We'll sort those out when the glue dries.

3. While the glue dries, make the head by drawing around the bottom of something like a small spice jar on a spare piece of paper plate centre. Cut it out, and if you want, trim two sides to make a more oval shape (optional).

4. For the mermaid's hair, cut out the middle of the second paper plate - we trimmed it all round, cutting more away on two sides, to make it oval shaped (again, this is optional) Ours ended up about 12cm long and 10cm wide.

5. Cut about a third off the head and place it on the hair, so she looks like she's got a fringe (bangs). When you're happy with the position, draw a pencil line right along the top of the head.

Then, roughly halfway along this line, fold the hair piece longways. and either cut straight along the folded line for a straight fringe, OR, as we did, start cutting just above the line, aiming for the end of the line, to make a centre parting!
Make sure the head piece fits in the slot, but don't stick it down yet.

6. To make the arms, draw around the top part of the mermaid's body on some spare paper plate middle. Make sure it's just the top of the body, so only go as far as the first ridge (see picture below). Then join the two ends with a gently curved line.

7. Draw a pencil line inside, mirroring the shape, so it's about 1cm wide (it doesn't have to be perfect!)

Cut the piece out and then snip through the pointy end of the shape, and follow the inside line.

8. Time to finish off the tail! cut away the sticky out bits at the bottom (I've drawn a pencil line, so you can see more clearly what I mean). Then draw a pencil line from the bottom of the second piece of plate rim to the end of the tail, tapering and making it thinner as you do, to make a nice curve. Keep it about a 1cm wide at the end.

9. To make an even looking tail end, draw a pencil line roughly in the middle of the remaining piece of plate rim. Cut away the sides at an angle, so it's the right size to fit on the end of the tail. Then cut out the curvy tail end, using the middle line as a guide. Glue in place.

10.  Painting time and we cut small pieces from an old sponge, about 2 to 3cm square. Press them in the paint and get sponging! Use one piece for each different colour.

First we painted the body, head and arms. We mixed lots of white with a little red, dab of yellow and tiny spot of blue.

The hair is a mix of yellow and orange splodges, but do the body and hair whatever colour you prefer.

The tail is green and blue splodges. 

Leave your mermaid pieces to dry.

11. Once dry, assemble your mermaid. Slide the arm piece over the body and angle it to one side. Trim the nearest arm, so it doesn't look too long. Make sure the arm piece is 1cm or so below the pointy top and glue in place. Glue the head to the top of the body, and then the body to the hair, sliding the head into the fringe slot. 

12. Cut small triangles for the bikini from some leftover rim, and glue them on. Use a black pen to draw on her face.

Obviously add glitter if you want to!

And hang on to the leftover rim pieces. I have some other ideas for them...

Princess Leia - Star Wars craft

Princess Leia joins the crew to celebrate Star Wars day!  She's made like the other figures, but the most important thing to get right was her rather distinctive hair style. Think we cracked it...

You'll need:

Egg carton

Pencil

Ruler

Craft scissors

Nail scissors or similar (optional) Adult supervision required

Paint

Craft glue
Plain paper

Black felt-tip or gel pen
Silver metallic pen

For a lightsaber:
Coloured straw

Black marker pen (like a Sharpie)

1. As with the other figures, roughly cut out two middle cones from the egg box so they're easier to work with. On one, draw a pencil line around the bottom of the cone, just above the bumpy cardboard joins. Cut along the line. This will be the body.

2. The second cone is for the head, and you only need the very top part. Either estimate this, or use a pencil and ruler to mark about 1.5cm (1/2in.) from the top on all sides, join the marks and cut out. A handy way to do this is to cut up two adjacent corners to the pencil line, bend the card back and cut off the flap - it should be easier now to cut along the rest of the line.

(If your cone has a hole in the top, see the tip at the bottom.)

3. For the arms, fold a piece of the egg carton lid in half and draw an arm (roughly about 3cm/or 1in. long) on the fold. Make it a little wider at the unfolded end. Cut out and open up.

4. Either cut the arm strip in half after the painting step (Step 7), and glue the pieces either side of the body, or, with adult supervision, use the nail scissors to make a hole roughly in the middle of one of the arm sides (keep the scissors closed, press down and twist from side to side.)
Once you've made the hole, snip up to the top of the cone and down the other side until the slot looks level. Cut an extra sliver out to widen the gap for the arms. Make sure the slot goes far enough down the body, so when you push the arm strip in, it sits below the top part of the cone (the head will be glued here later). Don't glue any of the pieces together just yet.

5. For her side buns, cut out a strip of plain paper, about 5cm by 8cm (2in.x3in.) and roll it as tightly as you can.

6. Then cut across your roll. Cut a few and make them as thin as you can. Choose two you're happy with, and gently squeeze them back into a rounder shape, letting them unfurl a little. Dab glue on the sides of Princess Leia's head and stick them in place. This might be easier to do with the head sitting on the body. 

7. Painting time. Take the head off and paint the body and arms white.

TIP: As with Darth Vader, place the body on a spare egg carton cone to make painting easier (and less messy!)

Make a skin colour by mixing white with a little red, a touch of yellow and the tiniest dab of blue. Paint one side of the head. When that's touch dry paint on brown hair, painting the buns too. It helps if you draw the outline of the hair on the face first with a brown or black pen before painting. 

Again, put the head on a spare egg carton cone while you're decorating it. 

9. When the paint is dry, use the fine black pen to draw on a face and if you have a silver pen add a belt (see pic above). Glue the head on and if you have cut the arm strip in half, glue them either side.

If you'd like to make a lightsaber or another type of weapon for Princess Leia, have a look at the steps for Luke Skywalker

Tip: If your egg cones have holes in the top, brush glue inside the cones and push a small piece of newspaper up to fill the hole.

Curly wurly snakes!

Wrap them wherever you like!

These spirally snakes are sssssssimple to make and they're really good for scissor practice too.

You'll need:
2 toilet paper tubes (or a kitchen paper tube cut in half)
Paint
Paper
Craft glue
Glue stick
Plain paper
Yellow felt-tip or highlighter

1.  Paint stripes up one tube using any colours you like. It looks good if you keep to a set pattern, so if you paint yellow, green then blue do the same around the rest of the tube. Try to keep the stripes a similar size.
On the second tube, paint the same colour pattern around the tube, leaving a space near one end. Make the stripes a little thinner this time. Paint the bit you've left black, or whatever colour you'd like for your snakes tongue! Paint the inside of this end black too.

2. When the paint's dry, carefully cut the tube to make a spiral. Take your time and make small snips with the tips of the scissors. Don't make the angle too steep at the beginning - just a gentle rise. When you've been round once, the important thing is to keep the width of the spiral (your snake's body) the same all the way up. Keep checking to see if it looks right. This can be tricky and needs concentration but it's great scissor practice. If it helps, you could try drawing a spiral on first with a pencil, or, for younger makers, start it off for them, as this is really the trickiest part. Let them have a go at cutting the rest of the spiral. It doesn't matter if it's a bit wiggly!

3. Snip the end off so you have a nice straight bit to stick the head to.

4. Use a pencil to draw a diamond shaped head on your other tube ( make sure it's not too small)

5. Use sticky tape to attach it to the twisty body.

6. Cut out an eye shape from the spare tube. We tried two different shapes. Draw around it twice on some plain paper and colour in with a yellow felt-tip pen or a highlighter. Add a black pen line down the middle. Cut them out and use a glue stick to glue them to the head.

7. Cut a thin strip from the black end of the tube for your snake's tongue. Straighten off both ends and cut a 'V' in one of them.

8. Use sticky tape or glue to stick the tongue to the back of the head. Add two black nostrils and any other detail you like. Now your snake is ready to explore!