How Do I Shape a House in Paper Tole?
In paper tole, several copies of an image are used to make a three-dimensional version of that image. The copies are cut into separate pieces and glued onto another copy of the image. Hot glue is used to build a base for the pieces so they are raised from the original. This produces the three-dimensional effect. The parts are arranged at different heights, giving the final product an interesting form.
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Things You'll Need
- 4 copies of a picture of a house, 11 by 14 inches
- Craft knife
- Colored markers
- Spoon and other objects for shaping
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Tweezers
- Shadowbox
Instructions
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1
Reserve one copy of the image as the base. This copy will not be cut.
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2
Decide which parts of the house will be cut out. For example, the roof, chimney, walls, windows, shrubs, door and even doorknob could be cut out separately. The lawn and sky could be left uncut.
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3
Cut out the components of the house from the three copies. These components will be glued over the copy reserved in Step 1. Using a craft knife to cut out the pieces will give more control than using scissors.
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4
Color the edges of all the cutouts so that the white edges do not show. Apply a color similar to that of the cut piece so as little contrast as possible is visible. Edges that are white or a starkly different color from the image make the piece look messy.
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5
Curve each cutout according to what it is. For example, a shrub would be rounded, so shape it by pressing the cutout around the back of a spoon. A chimney would have a less rounded appearance, so shape it slightly around the edges with your fingers.
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6
Glue the back of the cutout that will be lowest in the image. For example, glue the walls before gluing the roof so that the roof sticks out higher than the walls. Build up the height with glue, but make sure the glue is hidden behind the cutout.
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7
Place the glued cutout directly over the same area in the original image. Use tweezers to help put it in the right position.
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8
Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each cutout until one of each cutout has been used. This forms the first layer.
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9
Glue and apply another layer of cutouts over the first, leaving out ones that do not need to be made higher. For example, glue another layer on the roof but not the walls to make the roof stand out. Continue building up layers using fewer cutouts each time to increase the height of only select items on the house. Use logic when deciding which cutouts to build up. Discard any unused cutouts.
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10
Mount the finished piece in a shadowbox, and it is ready for display.
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Tips & Warnings
Finished paper tole works are best displayed in shadowboxes.
Use even more copies of the image to make it even higher. Five to seven layers is usually a good limit.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hot glue gun isolated image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
