Paper City + Holiday Idea

Portland artist Joel Henriques made this paper city for his kids and posted it on his blog, Made By Joel, several months ago (template available there also). I love the squiggly lines in the buildings and the different styles and personalities of his characters.

It occurred to me that this would be a really easy way to create inexpensive one-of-a-kind holiday decorations, especially for those who live in small spaces or those on a budget (if you're like me, that's check, check). You could design your own little village, or just make Christmas trees, or gnomes; any holiday theme would work. Or, if you aren't particularly confident in your drawing skills, you could print Joel's template and color it in with holiday colors. It's a great activity for kids and a creative way to add festive decorations without spending any money.

I've made a lot of holiday decorations in the past using various materials; some turned out better than others, but all were lots of fun to create. If I can dig up some photos, I'll post them here.

Oh, and if you've never been to Joel's blog, you should definitely check it out. He makes wonderful handcrafted toys and shares tutorials too. You can see his artwork here.