Papercraft challenge 1: spring decor

Join us for the first of our seasonal series of papercraft challenges as we ask crafters and families to get creative with papercraft to celebrate occasions throughout the year.

In our first challenge, designer and craft enthusiast Hannah Bullivant, along with her children Frankie and Auden, used templates from Canon's Creative Park as the basis for a seasonal display to celebrate the start of springtime.

Whether it's flowers starting to bloom, lambs frolicking in fields or chocolate rabbits to enjoy, everyone welcomes the start of springtime. Making your own spring decorations is not only an affordable way to brighten up your home, you can also recycle your paper templates afterwards or keep them for future events.

• Creative Park app (or website).
• Canon PIXMA printer, such as the PIXMA TS5340a.
• Canon Matte Photo Paper
• Scissors
• Ruler (to score the folds)
• Glue stick/glue gun/glue dots

• Creative Park app (or website).
• Canon PIXMA printer, such as the PIXMA TS5350a Series.
• Canon Matte Photo Paper
• Scissors
• Ruler (to score the folds)
• Glue stick/glue gun/glue dots

The range of templates on Creative Park means there are some suitable for little ones and also more complex templates for adults, meaning everyone can get involved. "There are so many projects available for so many different events and celebrations," says Hannah. "I love that some are quite simple and some are more complex. You could spend days crafting if you wanted to, but there are also easier templates, such as garlands, that are really simple."

Hannah chose to make 3D flowers, larger flowers from a string decoration, bees and an Easter set, including a basket and eggs. She also selected a rabbit template to go with the seasonal theme.

Papercraft flowers can brighten up your home whatever the season. A freshly picked bloom will bring colour into your home for a few days, but a freshly printed one will last much longer. You'll find a simple and bright single gerbera papercraft flower in Creative Park's Plants section along with many other flora varieties such as a tulip, a lily and a sunflower, so you could even have a go at crafting your own spring paper flower bouquet.

You can also personalise the templates, adding dots of paint to the eggs, for instance, or even adjusting the ears on the rabbit template before glueing them on to create a range of unique bunnies. Use the designs as a starting point and then let your imagination do the rest.

Once you've chosen your templates you can print directly from your smartphone using the Creative Park app.

When you have printed and cut out all of your templates it's a good idea to score the lines with a ruler before folding and glueing. This will give your template a better shape when finished.

Once everything has been cut out and folded, it's time to start glueing. For more fiddly designs you could use a glue gun, but glue dots or a glue stick will also work just fine. A toothpick dipped in glue can be useful for smaller parts. Make sure the glue has dried before putting all the parts of your design together.

"The crafting takes time but it's quite meditative once you get into it," says Hannah. "Enjoy the process. This isn't a quick-to-finish craft, but something that requires a little more time. Choose an audiobook or podcast you enjoy, slow down and enjoy the making."

Each Creative Park design has a star rating signifying its difficulty level so if you're new to papercrafting, or have less time for your project, you can choose an alternative template.

Hannah decided to decorate her spring table with a combination of papercraft models, vases of daffodils and tulips, hot cross buns and chocolate eggs, but you can display your decor however you like. Why not try attaching flowers or butterflies to your kitchen window frame with adhesive putty, or punch holes through your designs to thread a piece of string through to create a springtime garland. Or you could have a go at crafting your own butterfly-themed home decorations.

After the tea party, Hannah and her children decided to keep some of the templates, such as the little rabbits, but recycled the rest. "I always try to minimise plastic waste for birthdays and events, so I'd definitely look at Creative Park projects again," she says.

Hannah says she will be keeping an eye out for the next papercraft challenge, themed on a summer picnic, as she is always looking for craft ideas and creative projects to keep her children occupied during the school holidays.

For more inspiration, check out our Pinterest page and share your own spring decor creations using the #MadeWithPixma hashtag.