Design your own living room artwork!

Hi everybody,

Today I have made this bright colourful piece of art made with paints and paper weaving. I liked it so much I have framed it!

You will need:

• Two sheets of paper
• Scissors
• Cotton wool
• A selection of paints
• Glue stick

The first thing you need to do is select your colours. I have used acrylic paint but any type will do. You need to choose about four contrasting colours for each of the two sheets of paper. I chose some darker colours for one with purples and blues, and then some lighter yellows and oranges for the other. (I think I made a mistake as I put some red on both. It still looks ok, but if I was to do this again I would stick to different colours on each bit of paper.)

Now is the messy part, so make sure you have protected your surface! I squirted some paint onto an old plate and then using some cotton wool I just dabbed some paint onto the paper. I used my darker colours on one sheet and the lighter colours on the other. If you don’t have cotton wool you could use some kitchen roll, an old sponge or even you fingers. Once you have covered your paper and you are happy with how they look, you need to let them dry.

Once mine were dry I trimmed off the edges where they had been attached to a pad.

Next, choose one of the pieces of paper and fold it in half length ways with the paint on the inside. Then using your scissors, make some cuts from the fold up to about 2cm to the outer edge of the paper. Continue this all the way down the fold of the paper.

Now cut the other piece paper into long strips lengthways. It doesn’t really matter if they are slightly different sizes. I tried to make mine all about 1.5cm but didn’t bother measuring them!

Now you can weave each strip through the slits in the first piece of paper making sure each strip goes the alternate way from the one next to it.

To finish it off neatly I used a glue stick to secure all the ends and trimmed off any strips that were slightly sticking out.

I really love how mine turned out so it’s up on the wall in my hall. I am also thinking of using some smaller pieces of paper and making one to decorate a greetings card.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s craft. As always, I would love to see any of your creations. Please get in touch with comments, suggestions and photos via my social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as: The Crafty Hare UK (@thecraftyhareuk) or you can reply to MFT’s posts if you prefer.

Thanks for reading and I will see you next week!

Beccy

Want to write a blog for us? We’d love to hear from you! Contact us at connie@maryfrancestrust.org.uk

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