How to Make a Dog Using Craft Punches

You can make a colorful dog project using craft punches and some other basic materials. This is a great craft idea for kids or the elderly, especially because it can improve their fine motor skills. It also works well if you're comfortable with sketching a picture of a dog but want to add color to it in an interesting way.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• White paper
• Thin-tipped black marker
• Craft punch(es)
• Regular hole punch (optional)
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Draw the outline of a dog on white paper with the thin-tipped black marker. The picture should be large, taking up as much of the paper as possible.

2. Add any basic details necessary to easily recognize the dog, such as eyes, mouth and tongue with the thin-tipped black marker.

3. Decide on the colors you would like each part of the dog to be. For the simplest craft, you can use the same color throughout. If you'd like to get much more detailed, you can use several shades of the same color (such as tan, brown and dark brown) for texture or you can give the dog stripes or spots in different colors. Add any of these details with very light pencil strokes.

4. Use a craft puncher to punch out shapes from the pieces of construction paper in the colors of your choice. You may prefer craft punch-outs in the shape of a dog, a bone or a shape that reminds you of dogs. For the simplest craft, you may want to stick to the small round circles produced by a regular hole punch.

5. Apply a thin layer of glue to the surface of the paper inside the outline of the dog.

6. Press the craft punch-outs onto the picture in the appropriate places, overlapping them slightly.

7. Allow to dry fully. Cut out the outline of the dog.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use a dog stencil or a photocopied page of a coloring book to draw the dog outline.

• For eyes, you may want to use simple white hole punch-outs. If you do so, consider adding an iris and pupil with fine-tipped pens.

• Try to find the smallest craft punchers possible for this craft so that they will fit easily inside of the dog outline.

References

• Better Budgeting: Frugal Crafts & Homemade Gifts