Every year, various decor for a photo shoot becomes more and more relevant. These can be ready-made photo zones or thematic elements. One of these are large numbers, which are often used at children's parties or for anniversary photos for couples. Often their cost is quite high. Therefore, we offer several simple master classes with which you can make numbers with your own hands.
Creating a wireframe
Creating a holiday figure begins with the frame. It is made from thick cardboard. Corrugated packaging cardboard from boxes for large household appliances is perfect for this purpose.
The figure consists of two large parts and several small ones. On a large sheet of cardboard you need to draw a silhouette of a number. If you are good at drawing, do it by hand. You can do it even simpler, download a photo of a birthday number template from the Internet, print a large picture on several A4 sheets and cut it out. All you have to do is attach the finished template to the cardboard and trace it.
Having cut out two parts of the number, you need to cut out a long ribbon from cardboard; it will be located between the front and back of the number and form the volume. If there is not enough material for a long strip, you can cut out several pieces of the same width and connect them with tape. All that remains is to glue all the parts together with wide tape.
Making a number with your own hands can be even easier. You can cut the frame of the decoration from foam or foam rubber. Simply attach the printed template to the material, trace and cut out. Foam rubber can be cut with large scissors; foam plastic can be cut with a stationery knife.
The finished frame can be decorated in several ways.
Materials for production
In order to create the number 2 with your own hands, you will need:
- cardboard (you can take an old cardboard box);
- paper tape;
- pencil;
- ruler;
- scissors or stationery knife;
- glue or glue gun;
- corrugated paper or napkins;
- ribbon;
- leg-split;
- any decorative elements as desired.
The larger the number, the more costly it will be in terms of creation time. The same applies to materials; you will need quite a lot of them.
Fluffy figure for a boy
You can get original numbers from corrugated paper if you make it according to the following instructions:
- Cut long strips of small width from corrugated paper of the main color and glue them to all the joints of the cardboard frame. This is necessary so that there are no gaps on the number;
- Cut out many squares of corrugated paper, measuring 5 by 5 cm or slightly larger;
- Each square needs to be wrapped around a pencil or pen; corrugated paper will hold its shape well;
- Immediately glue each piece onto the frame.
At the bottom of the figure, you can glue several pieces of cardboard, stacked on top of each other, to make it heavier and more stable.
Other decorative elements
In addition to those colors, you can make a variety of elements from napkins:
- For example, there is a way to crumple a napkin around a pencil. Place the pencil in the middle of a napkin folded several times, and press the edges firmly against the pencil.
- As if hugging a pencil with the edges of a napkin. The resulting figures are also quite convenient for filling the surface of the number.
- There is also an option to simply crumple each napkin into a ball, slightly straighten it and attach this element to the base.3. Also popular are roses that are easy to twist.
- Take a single-layer napkin and fold it diagonally, gradually twisting it into a narrow strip. Next, twist the resulting strip loosely and gradually form a rose. Then tie one end tightly with a strong thread so that it does not unravel.
- As a result, at the other end you get a charming bud of a neat rose. If desired, it can be slightly adjusted to add similarity to the natural original.
Yielding to the impulse of a bold fantasy in such a matter will only be beneficial. Improvisation and creative play are just what you need.
Fabric bows
You can use more than just paper to create numbers. Excellent decorations also come from fabric. For a girl’s birthday, you can cover the number with fabric bows.
For this purpose, it is better to buy several meters of ready-made smooth braid. The ribbon is cut into pieces 10-15 cm long, each one is tied into a bow and glued to the frame. If the fabric frays at the cut site, gently burn it over the fire to seal the edge.
Ribbon fringe
If you buy thin multi-colored ribbons, you can use them to make fringe. We offer you instructions on how to correctly make a number with fringe:
- Cut the tape into pieces 10 cm long;
- Fold each piece in half and tie a knot at the fold;
- Glue the knot to the cardboard frame;
- Repeat for each ribbon. The knots need to be glued close to each other; for this it is better to use hot melt glue.
Note!
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Foam base
How to make a three-dimensional figure from napkins and foam? If you choose foam plastic as the base material, then it will be much more convenient to work. Cut the number out of paper or draw it directly onto the foam and then cut it out. If the sheet of material is too thin, glue several sheets together with ceiling tile adhesive. It is most convenient to work with this capricious material with a special tool.
If it is possible to use a professional cutting tool with a heated nichrome thread, be sure to take advantage of it. A similar cutter can be made from a soldering iron with fixed copper wire, but this is only for creating volumetric figures in large quantities. Foam can be cut well with a regular knife using a metal ruler.
Satin flowers
You can make beautiful and very realistic flowers from a wide satin ribbon. For each flower you need to do the following:
- Cut out three circles, different sizes;
- Fire heat all edges;
- Add the circles together from largest to smallest;
- Pierce the center of the piece with a tailor's pin and pin it to the base.
Jewelry options
Any thin paper can be used for decoration. You can decorate the number with large pompoms, voluminous or flat flowers, fringe, and so on. For a large figurine you will need about 100-200 paper roses. We inform you of this to understand the scale of the work. It is advisable to choose lush flowers, such as roses or asters. To save time, the sides can be covered with corrugated paper. You can decorate the number with the same or different flowers, for example, combine two or three colors and make gradient transitions. The same goes for fringe.
Making numbers with yarn
Another simple way is to wrap the number with thread. Select the yarn of the desired color or colors, firmly glue the end of the thread to the cardboard figure and begin simply wrapping the thread around the frame. The thread must be placed very tightly so that the cardboard is not visible. The direction of the thread can be changed, so the number will look more interesting.
A melange thread or thread with smooth color transitions will look beautiful on a festive number.
Other ideas
In addition to the listed ways to decorate a holiday number, there are many more ways. Here are just some ideas on what you can use to cover a number:
A large piece of fabric. The fabric is glued to hot glue, forming beautiful folds;
- Colored paper or gift wrapping paper. On top of the frame you can make a thematic applique in the theme of the holiday;
- Small photographs;
- Multi-colored buttons;
- Felt;
- Artificial flowers made of plastic;
- Sparkles. The frame should be generously greased with PVA glue and sprinkled with multi-colored glitter;
- Wrap a decorative rope around the number, periodically gluing the rope;
- Small balloons. They need to be attached to a foam plastic frame, piercing the tail of each inflated ball with a tailor's pin. If the frame of your figure is made of cardboard, glue the balls with tape; hot glue will melt the rubber.
A festive number will decorate your home during your child’s birthday celebration, and can also be an excellent gift for an adult birthday boy. It can serve as a decorative item or combine several functions.
You can put a small gift inside the volumetric figure; for convenience, make a “door” in advance through which the birthday person can get the gift. For kids, you can make a festive piñata from a hollow cardboard figure. To do this, just fill the figure with candies and hang it in the yard.
