Decorative Tree Ornaments

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Add a personal touch to your decorations this holiday season with a beautiful and surprisingly simple craft ornament. It requires nothing more than some decorative paper and a few yards of yarn!

Age: 4+

Duration: 15 minutes

You’ll Need:

R15420 Black and White Paper/ R15200 Patterned Paper ClasspackR15203 Decorative Hues Paper / R15421 Double -Sided Rainbow Paper / R15409 Economy Metallic Paper / R15289 All Kinds of Fabric Paper/ R15256 Amazing Animal Paper / R15263 Tie-Dry Craft Paper/ R15303 Retro Pop Paper

• Yarn

• Scissors

• Tape

• Ruler

• Protractor

Line-03This would be a great opportunity to introduce children on how to use a protractor to make angles. For this activity, children will use protractors to make different sizes of semi-circles for the cone shapes.

IMG_7791Select the different types of paper you would like to use in your Christmas tree ornament. Our trees have 4-5 tiers to them. If you would like to make the trees smaller, simply leave out the two interior tiers.

IMG_7797Lay the ruler horizontally across the length of the paper. For the largest and last tier, place the first point at the middle of the ruler. Draw a semi-circle from one corner of the page to the opposite corner.

IMG_7799The second tier should feature a semi-circle that is about 9″ in width.

IMG_7801The third tier should feature a semi-circle that is 6″ in width.

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The last tier should feature a semi-circle that is about 4½” in width.

IMG_7806Cut out each of the semi-circles.

IMG_7809Roll the semi-circles into cones and secure the edges together with tape. Note: When you roll up the cones, be sure to leave a bit of an opening at the top. You’ll need the opening to thread string through.

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Tie a knot at the bottom of the yarn. String the rest of the yarn through the opening in the top of the cone. Continue to thread the yarn through the rest of the cones.

IMG_7819Simply make a loop from the yarn and place onto a tree branch or hang in a window.

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How are you decorating your classroom for the winter holidays? Send us photos of your inventive craft decorations to subscriber@roylco.ca!

3D Ocean Scenes

3D Ocean Scene Hero Shot

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Following our ocean theme for this week, I’ve put together a little craft that incorporates our decorative papers into a fun and vivid cut and paste activity! Find out how to make your own ocean scenes below!

Age: 6+

Duration: 15-20 minutes

Learning Objectives: Exercise fine motor skills through cutting wave shapes. Focus scissor skills while cutting out fine details in various shapes. Turn 2D shapes into 3D images. Combine a flat base color with decorative paper to simulate the appearance of ocean waves. Combine colors together. Learn how to space elements apart to express dimension.

You’ll Need:

R15203 Decorative Hues Paper

• Construction paper, 9 x 12″

• Glue

• Scissors

• Pencil

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This craft is definitely one of our easier ones. There are less materials to use in this activity, so the final product is simple but effective. Kids will love playing around with the 3D waves to make their fish characters appear as if they are swimming!

P6099446Here’s a selection of the various Decorative Hues Papers you can use, along with some suggested backdrops for your ocean scenes. Blue is definitely a go-to color, but you may not have 30 sheets of blue construction paper easily available.

Other colors to use are: white, black, green, or even (not pictured here) purple! White goes well against light blue or greenish waves. Black can be used to depict a night-time ocean scene. Green works well with blue or white waves. Purple can be used for a deep-sea scene. Grab some references online to see what kinds of color combinations work with different ocean scenes.

P6099449I’m going to show you how a difficult color–such as black–can be incorporated into an ocean scene.

P6099451Most construction paper sheets come in 9 x 12″ configurations. For this activity, you will only need half of the sheet, so two students can use one color and create different waves effects. Fold the sheet of paper in half.

P6099452Use the folded line to cut or tear your sheet in half. You should have a sheet size of 9 x 6″.

P6099456I’ve selected a pretty wave-like pattern from the Decorative Hues paper. Notice I’ve used a sheet that’s predominantly purple. This makes it appear as if the reflection of the water is casting a purplish hue.

P6099458Flip your wave paper over and draw a line with peaks across the length of the sheet. You can get students to practice drawing wave lines on scrap paper before drawing them on the Decorative Hues paper.

P6099460You can fit about 3-4 wave lines on the back of the Decorative Hues sheet. Keep the spacing relatively equal, but you can do thinner lines if you wish.

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Cut each of the wave lines out from the paper. Discard the part above the first line you drew. Next, select two fun colors for the fish shapes. Fish are relatively small so you can cut the sheets in half and distribute among students.

Fish Drawing Lesson!

Click on any of the following subheadings to learn how to draw:

Basic Fish Shape

Fish Design 2

Fish Design 3

Basic Fish Shape

Draw a basic fish shape with two basic shapes: a triangle for the tail and an oval for the body.

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Start by drawing a small line.

P6099465From the bottom of the line, draw a large oval shape.

P6099466Complete the oval by crossing over and connecting it to the top of the line.

Fish Design 2

This fish look a little more exotic, but is made up of two triangles: a large triangle for the body and a small triangle for the tail.

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First draw a large rounded triangle shape. Leave the line open so it can connect to the tail.

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Finish the fish shape off with a smaller triangle for the tail.

Fish Design 3

This fish design is a little more complex. It is based after the top view of a koi fish, so it requires a little more curve to the basic shapes. There are a lot of ovals and rounded triangles used in this fish shape. Older students can use reference drawings of other fish to make their designs.

P6099470Draw a loose tear-drop shape for the tail.

P6099471Connect the tail to a large oval body.

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Add small triangles for fins.

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Cut out all the fish shapes. Thanks to the versatile design, it’s easy to flip the fish to face any direction.

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Now let’s get ready to assemble the 3D ocean scene!

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Flip over the first wave pattern you wish to use. Dab a bit of glue on either end of the strip.

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Slightly curl in the wave strip as you glue it down onto the background. Slide the edges of the wave strip about 1/4″ away from the edge of the background. This will lift up the sheet off the background to create a wave effect. Space each of the wave strips apart as you glue them down.

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Hang loose and get ready to add in the fish!

P6099484Dab glue onto the back of the fish shape.

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And glue your fish onto one of the wave strips.

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Fill up the entire scene with fish figures! Now they all look like they’re surfing the waves!

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Here’s a look at what else you can do with different combinations of Decorative Hues paper! The scene on the left depicts a series of koi fish on light blue waves. The scene looks like it’s fresh out of a painting!

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Origami Heart Garland

Origami Heart Garland

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This easy five-minute origami project is perfect for Valentine’s Day!

Age: 4+

Duration: 5-10 minutes (depending on the length of your garland)

Learning Outcomes: Practice origami and fine motor skills. Complete a simple but beautiful classroom decoration.

You’ll Need:

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For this project, you’ll need origami paper, a hole punch, yarn, and lots of willing hands!

step 1

First we’ll teach you how to fold the origami heart. Start by folding your paper diagonally, so you have a triangle. Open the triangle, and fold on the other diagonal. Open the paper again. You should have crease marks going from point to point.

Turn your paper so it looks like a diamond in front of you. Fold the top point down to the center of the paper and crease it.

step 6

Fold the bottom point up to meet the center of the top fold.

step 7

From the center crease on the bottom fold, fold the right half of your soon-to-be heart up.

step 8

Bring the left half up to meet the right half in the middle.

step 9

Flip your soon-to-be heart over. Fold down the top two points. Fold in the left and right points. When you flip it back over, your heart will be finished! Challenge each student to make several hearts. Not only does practice make perfect, but the more hearts you have, the longer your garland will be!

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Once you have collected the class’s hearts, break out the hole punch and the yarn. Punch two holes in the top of each heart.

step 12

Finally, thread the yarn through the holes. If the yarn frays or the small holes are tricky for little fingers, try our plastic lacing needles to make the job a little easier.

step 13

Once your garland is strung, only your imagination limits its uses! Tape the garland to the edge of tables, desks or cabinets to add color to the classroom. Use the hearts to decorate bulletin boards, doors and hallways!

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Pop-Up Valentines Day Cards

Pop Up Valentine Card

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These hand-made cards make your feelings POP on Valentine’s day!

Age: 5+

Duration: 15 minutes

Learning Outcomes: Exercise fine motor skills. Encourage creativity. Integrate art, literacy, and holiday activities. Makes a perfect take-home craft.

You’ll Need:

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  1. Type a Valentine’s day poem into a word document.
  2. Print out the poem and cut it out.
  3. Fold a sheet of heart-themed Pop Culture Paper in half, hamburger style.
  4. Cut two parallel slits in the fold. Mae sure you cut each slit approximately the same width. We suggest no more than 2″.
  5. Open your sheet of paper. You should have a flap of paper with a crease in the center. Pull the flap forward gently, and crease the flap the opposite way. Then close your card with the flap on the inside. Crease. This will create the support for you pop-up. Your card should look like a folded sheet of paper with a square missing from the fold side.
  6. Open your card. Apply glue to ONE SIDE of the pop up.
  7. Glue your poem to the popup.
  8. Decorate your card.
  9. Present the card to your Valentine!

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Christmas Tube Gift Boxes

Photo of Christmas Tube Gift Boxes Artwork

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Make beautiful Christmas gift boxes with our R39301 Tube Crafts

Age: 5+

Duration: 10 minutes

Learning Objectives:

You’ll Need:

R39301 Tube Crafts

R2143 Really Big Buttons

• Ribbon

• Tape, if required

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Collect all your materials that you’ll need. You can choose any color of Tube Crafts as they are double-sided.

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Roll the flattened sheet across the short sides. We’ve designed the Tube Craft sheets on one side with tabs and slots on the other to help secure the tube in place.

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Flatten the tube on both sides.

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Press in one side of the tube, followed by the other side. Leave the un-flattened end open to allow small gifts or candies to be placed inside.

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Close up the other side once you have placed your gift inside.

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Wrap the gift box with gold ribbon. Secure with a knot then thread the ends through the holes in our Really Big Buttons.

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And voila! You have yourself a perfectly-wrapped gift for a special person during the holiday season.

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Flag Windsocks

Windsock Artwork made from Color Diffusing Paper

2014-05-25-FeatureImage Make brilliant designs on Color Diffusing Paper using clear glue! Incorporate windsocks into a national holiday craft or use to cheer on your favorite team.

Age: 5+

Duration: 20 minutes

Learning Objectives: Create product art with an emphasis on using fine motor skills. Trace designs onto paper or draw freehand using references. Encourage scissor skills development. Incorporate windsock designs with themes learnt through social studies subjects or in observation of upcoming national events. Talk about significance of wind patterns and weather changes.

You’ll Need:

R15212 Color Diffusing Paper 12 x 18″

• Watercolor paint

• Plastic paint trays

R54460 Squiggle Pipettes OR paintbrushes

• Scissors

• Hole punch

• Yarn

• Tape

• Clear glue (preferrably with applicator tip)

Line-03 This activity is perfect for making a take-home craft that kids will love. You can decide to have kids draw their flag designs freehand, or print out a large flag design in black and white line-art that kids can use as a template beneath their Color Diffusing Paper sheet. In this activity, I’ve used both techniques.

Click on any of the links below to skip to a portion of this tutorial:

1. Designing your windsock

2. Making streamers

3. Assembling your windsock

P6179636 Here, you can see all the materials I’ve assembled. Using bowls to contain the watercolor paint makes it easy for kids to keep their work-spaces clean. Pipettes are a great way to get children with developing finger muscles to experiment with different squeezing techniques.

Alternatively, use paintbrushes to apply the watercolor to the Color Diffusing sheets.

P6179640 First, decide on your design. If you decide to get students to freehand the design, it’s a good idea to print out a reference for students to look at. They can lightly pencil in their design if they’d prefer, then go over top of the design with the clear glue.

It’s ideal if the clear glue dispenser has a pointed applicator that kids can use like the point of a marker or pencil. Gently press the glue down onto the Color Diffusing Paper on top of your penciled design.

P6179642The photo above won’t clearly show the image, but I’ve “drawn” 50 stars with the clear glue in a stacked sequence. Can you guess the flag I’m making?

P6179644Wait until the glue is completely dry! This usually doesn’t take too long, but if you are worried about time, be sure to do the glue “drawing” on a day before your painting class. You can speed up by the process by leaving the drying artwork under an oscillating fan. Once you are ready to paint, place the Color Diffusing Paper into a plastic paint tray.

For this particular project, I’ve grabbed blue watercolor. Notice how nicely the Squiggle Pipette fits into the colorful paint bowl. You can place the bowl in the center of a group of students and have them all grab their paint from that one location.

P6179664This is my favorite part!! As I release the blue watercolor paint from the Squiggle Pipette, the paint carefully avoids any place where I’ve “drawn” in the glue. This is because the glue has seeped completely through the paper and acts as a barrier to the oncoming ink.

P6179668It will take a few squirts from the Squiggle Pipettes to fill the entire canvas, but it’s well worth it for the colorful effect and design popping through!

P6179671For a project like the Union Jack flag, I placed a line-art print of the flag design beneath the Color Diffusing Paper and traced out all the lines with the clear glue. Once the glue was dry, I used a paintbrush to apply the paint. This helped maintain an even layer of paint throughout the design.

P6179714 Take your main windsock design and prepare it for lift-off!

P6179717First, roll the windsock into a tight tube. This will help it retain a cylinder shape once you string it up.

P6179719 Unwind the tube until the ends are overlapping by 2″ on both sides. Tape the edges together.

P6179724 Next, make four holes at equal intervals along the top edge of your flag windsock.

P6179726Grab a large run of yarn, about 2 yards (1.8 m) in length.

P6179729 Loop one end through a hole and hold. Make a second loop with the other end of the yarn and hold that along with the first strand. Use the remaining yarn to pass through a second hole.

P6179731Loop back up and hold the loop in your hand along with the rest of the previous loops. Pass the end of the yarn through a third hole.

P6179732Loop back up through the hole and hold the loop in your hand with the rest. Thread the final stretch of yarn through the fourth hole.

P6179734Then loop back up and hold this loop in your hand with the remaining loops. There should be some leftover length of yarn to use as the string from which you’ll hang the windsock. Twist all the loops together, as one, into a tight knot.

P6179737You can trim some of the excess loops above the knot part. Just make sure not to snip the long piece of string! The first part of the windsock should look something like this.  

P6179681 Now it’s time to make the streaming ends for the windsocks. Place the Color Diffusing paper lengthwise, then spread the paint any which way you’d like. Make lines, spots, color entire strips of paper or intertwine the colors together.

P6179712When this particular sheet of paper has dried, cut it into strips lengthwise.

P6179747 Now grab some glue! We’re ready to attach the final portion of the windsock.

P6179748Put a bit of glue on the inside of the windsock’s bottom edge.

P6179749Press a streamer down onto the glued portion. Space out your streamers into equal intervals and continue all the way around the bottom of the windsock.

P6179752Here’s a look at our windsock! Isn’t it a beaut!

P6179757 You can see further completed designs here, including the American flag, Canadian flag, and the Union Jack!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Here’s a shot of our windsocks fluttering outside from our local pine trees!

P6209823 Another gorgeous look at our lovely flag designs! Watch how they flutter animatedly in the breeze! Line-03 Thanks for checking out this post! Like us on FacebookShare this post with your friends, or Subscribe to this blog today to receive original craft project updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday!

Hatch a Baby Dinosaur This Spring

Roylco baby dinosaur lesson plan

Most young children are fascinated by dinosaurs. They are curious about these mighty creatures that lived millions of years ago. Where did the dinosaur come from? Today we are going to introduce a hatching baby dinosaurs craft activity that children will love. This is a great class activity when you are teaching about dinosaurs.  You can also introduce it at the end of the dinosaur discovery tour at the museum.  Use this activity to talk about how a baby dinosaur grows inside the egg. Children will love to help the baby dinosaur hatch from the egg.

Age: 5+

Duration: 10 – 15 minutes

Learning Outcomes:  Learning evolutionary concepts. Practice drawing skills. Exercise Fine motor skills. Growing children’s interest in science.

You’ll Need:

Let the children choose one piece of paper with their favorite colors and patterns (R15311 Dinosaur Print Papers).

Encourage children to use a pencil to draw the baby dinosaurs at the back of the dinosaur print paper. After they draw the baby dinosaur, they can use the black marker to trace it.

Then cut out the baby dinosaur.

Glue the dinosaur on the white craft paper. You can glue the eye or draw the eye on the dinosaur.

Choose a piece of antique paper ( R15286 Antique Paperthat you like and lay it on top of the baby dinosaur. Use a pencil to draw an egg outline and cut it out.

Add glue to the outline of the brown egg and place it on the white craft paper over top of the baby dinosaur. Make a small cut in the middle the egg.

Ask the children to write their names on the white craft paper and exchange their crafts.

Here comes the exciting moment of this activity.

Invite children to help the dinosaur hatch from the egg by tearing open the paper (where you have made the small hole) to reveal the baby dinosaur inside the egg!

It’s a lot of fun for children to discover the different types of baby dinosaurs.

Please visit https://roylco.com/shop/r15311-dinosaur-print-papers/ for more information.

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Tube Craft Flower

Tube Craft Flowers

tube crafts flowers

Using simple materials such as tube rolls and tissue paper, you can make the most intriguing flower decorations for your spring display! Try it with our R39301 Tube Crafts!

Age: 5+

Duration: 5-10 minutes

Learning Objectives: Use scissor skills to create beautiful flower decorations. Develop fine motor skills through rolling and securing the tubes. Create a lovely decorative addition to your spring/summer art display.

tube crafts flowers

You’ll Need:

R39301 Tube Crafts

• Scissors

• Tissue paper

• Tape

• Construction paper

• Pencil

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tube crafts flowers

Choose one of the flat Tube Crafts. The tubes have colors on both sides so you can roll it according to the side you want.

tube crafts flowers

Gently roll the card into a tube shape and secure with the specially designed notches and tabs. This tube will form the base of the flower.

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Next, cut a long strip of tissue paper from your sheet. If you have smaller lengths of tissue, you can simply tape them together. The strip should be about 3 x 16″ wide.

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Accordion fold the strip of paper until it is all neatly tucked into a square.

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Cut the unfolded edge into a half circle shape, making sure to keep the side folds intact.

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Unfold the chain to reveal a petal-like design.

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Gather up the tissue paper that you will use to form the center of the flower.

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Scrunch all four corners together in the center and secure with a piece of tape.

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Tape one edge of the petal chain onto the top of your Tube Craft and roll it all the way around the tube edge.

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Once the tube is completely rolled with the tissue paper, fold the petals outward.

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Stuff the center of the flower inside the tube and secure with tape.

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Cut a strip of paper from the construction paper sheet.

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Fold the strip of construction paper in half and cut from the fold line to make a leaf shape. Unfold the sheet of construction paper.

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Tape the leaf shape to the back of the tube to finalize the flower.

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With these techniques, you can make a full garden of flowers!

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Giant Easter Egg Decorating

Make larger-than-life decorated eggs for Easter holiday

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Make larger-than-life decorated eggs for Easter holiday! 

Age: 5+

Duration: 10-15 minutes

Learning Objectives: Use stencils to trace beautiful mandala patterns onto egg shapes. Choose coordinating colors and color in specific parts of the egg design. Learn about the history of Easter and the origin of Rangoli designs through research.

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You’ll Need: 

R5621 Rangoli Mega Stencils

• Large sheet of card paper

• Pencil

• Crayons or pencil crayons

• Scissors

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Start with a sheet of card paper that is about legal size 11 x 17″ (28 x 43 cm) or more. Draw a small curve at the top of the sheet, and a very large curve at the bottom of the sheet. Join the two curves together to make a full egg shape.

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Cut the resulting shape out. You don’t have to make the egg shape look absolutely perfect, but the general idea is to keep the bottom wider than the top.

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Before you begin, make sure to pop out the die cut pieces on the inside of the Rangoli stencil. Place the stencil onto the card cutout. Use a pencil to trace the interior edges of each pattern piece.

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Here you can see how well the tracing transfers onto the sheet. Don’t press the lines too harshly, as you will want to let the color shine through rather than the outlines.

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Start filling in each of the outlined shapes with a preferred color of crayon.

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How do you like me now!? What a pretty design… the color combination looks a lot like the famous blue and white porcelain designs from Asia and Europe.

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Here’s another egg design to show the variation in color and pattern you can do–much like designing your own Easter egg! Pin up on a display wall for this spring!

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