Hi! It’s Birgit here today and I’m excited to share this cute little project with you!
Do you remember these fun folded paper thingies called fortune tellers, chatterboxes, cootie catchers or snapdragons?
I used to make them when I was a kid and even later when I was a teenager.
As kids we would use them to play games, put assignments in there like climb on the table, then jump off or try to steal some cookies or sing a song.
And later when we were teenagers we would use them as fortune tellers.They would tell us who we would fall in love with, how many kids we would have and so on.
In 2 days, on February 17, it’s Random Act of Kindness Day (RAK).
Find out more about RAK Day here: https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-random-acts-of-kindness-day-february-17
I thought it would be fun and sweet to create a couple of those chatterboxes, add some nice words of encouragement, wrap them and leave them in random places like in the bus or train, in a cart at the grocery store, in the waiting room at the doctor’s or on the table when leaving a café or restaurant.
But of course they are also fun to create with/for your kids and have them play with them.
Here’s how I created my chatterboxes:
First I cut my paper to squares. It doesn’t matter what size, the smaller the paper, the smaller the chatterbox. My papers are 6” x 6” (15cm x 15cm).
I started by randomly printing light and bright colors on both sides of the papers until they were completely covered. I used a variety of acrylic paints brands, any brand will work.
Then I added darker, contrasting colors to my plate and placed a stencil on top. I took away some of the paint from the open areas with some scrap paper but not all of it as I was aiming for a distressed look. Then I added another color op top and moved it a bit around, then again used some paper to remove some of the new color as I wanted to make sure there would be some open areas to reveal the colors of the first print.
Then I removed the stencil and placed the printed sheets on top. As with the first layer I continued doing this until all papers were filled on ONE side. The other side will be only visible for a little part at the bottom of the chatterbox.
When the papers were completely dry I folded them into chatterboxes.
Follow these steps:
- Place the paper right side down in front of you and fold in half.
2. Turn the paper a quarter turn and fold in half again.
3. Fold the paper diagonally.
4. Turn the paper a quarter turn and fold diagonally again.
5. Fold all 4 corners towards the middle
6. Flip the paper over and again fold all 4 corners towards the middle
7. Turn the folded paper over again and fold all 4 corners to the inside
8. Now put your thumbs and index fingers inside the folded corners and twist a little to get the chatterbox in the right shape.
Now you can place the chatterbox flat on the table and open it to write your uplifting/encouraging words.
I used a white paint marker (Posca) to do this.
Then I wrapped them and added a little tag saying “To whoever finds this”.
Now they can be left wherever you want- although I suggest you leave them somewhere inside where you are sure they will be found and will not end up as waste in nature. 🙂
I hope you enjoyed this project and we would love to see what you create, so please share and don’t forget to tag @gelliarts and use #gelliarts so we can find your posts!
Happy printing and have a lovely day! Make it colorful 🌈
Birgit
Materials:
8”x10” Gelli Arts® gel printing plate
Acrylic paint
Regular copier paper
White paint marker (Posca)
Other:
Wrapping foil, ribbon, small tags
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How about doing this but not using the plastic bag and plastic ribbon? A tiny little punch in a corner to attach the tag would do it. Just a little thought to avoid the extra plastic and waste added to the environment. Every little effort we make adds up! 🙂
That was awesome! So clearly taught, and beautiful outcome.