Hello everyone in France and Navarre (and elsewhere, I love you all!)
I hope that you’re well and that the cold hasn’t frozen your fingers, which you’ll need for this DIY. Since
my window for the
Lemonade Shop went well, I thought that you might like a tutorial to make your own little cacti, for you and your loved ones this Christmas. It’s the perfect gift for those who lack a green thumb and those who can’t keep a real cactus alive for more than a couple weeks (hey, it happens to the best of us, don’t judge). So here it is, how to make paper cacti in every color and size! Hugs and kisses, Charlotte.
For this DIY you’ll need:
- To download the cactus patterns,
- White or colored canson paper,
- A pair of scissors,
- Green Scotch glue (after testing lots of different ones, I’m telling you, it’s the best!),
- A scalpel,
- A small ruler,
- A terracotta pot that you’ll have spray painted white before hand,
- Tweezers,
- A pencil.
Start by printing and cutting out all the cactus patterns.
Trace all the patterns onto paper and cut them out. Be sure to erase all pencil marks! For the main, big pieces of the cactus, cut out eight pieces so that the cactus will be nice and round! You’ll need about 50 needles (and a lot of patience).
Using your scalpel and ruler, lightly trace the cactus spikes with the back of the scalpel. This will help you with the next step: folding the spikes inwards!
Put together the first two parts of your cactus. As you can see, they’re the same shape, except one has tabs so that it may be assembled. Lightly dot glue on all the tabs. Be careful not to use too much or it will make spots on your nice white cactus.
Lay the two pieces on one another, lining them up as much as possible! Voilà, there you have the first piece of your cactus!
Repeat for the seven other parts!
Pay close attention and turn off the tv if it was on, we’re going to put the cactus together. If you look, you’ll see that there’s a side that has four tabs, and one that has three. Be sure to start with the side that has four tabs! Fold them inwards.
Put some glue on the taps and line up the next piece, on the side where there are three tabs. They should all line up!
Fold the glued tabs again inside the second piece in order to put them together. Now glue the side with three tabs inwards to hold your cactus together!
Do the same for the other pieces, your cactus should start to take shape! For the final step that will make your cactus round, I suggest only gluing the part with four tabs, that’ll make it much easier for you! Apply pressure and let it completely dry.
The toughest part is over, you can turn the tv back on! Put the cactus in its pot and let’s move on to the needles.
Using tweezers, fold the needles in two and put a tiny dot of glue on the back (a dab'll do ya).
Glue your first needle on the edge of the cactus and continue all over the rest of the cactus! You can make the flower using this DIY. Put it together and glue it on top of the cactus for the final touch!
And ta-da!
Translated by Whitney Bolin[:]
