Making decorational paper spheres sounds like an interesting idea. This year I was thinking about the commercialism of Christmas, the decorations and all the extra garbage we create. This makes me sad however I want the decor and the festive environment. I love to be eco friendly but not at the cost of enjoying Christmas. So this year I'm starting preparations early so that I don't end up with cheap store bought decorations which I'll probably find an excuse to change and throw them away next time I pull them out.

With this in mind I'm adding some new ideas one can use.

Honecomb paper design is structured paper inspired from bee honeycombs shaped into a solid shape design. The idea is to use delicate thin material to construct a solid shape. The result would be a lightweight foldable design that can open into a full sized item.

For this design I used an advertisment magazine that came into the post. Junk mail is great for experimenting new things.

To make the sphere design

Step 1:

Cut paper circles. I used about 20 circles of magazine paper the size of a soup bowl.

Step 2:

Fold each circle in half.

Step 3:

This step has to be done with patience and care as it is the gluing that creates the honeycomb effect.

I glued the folded cicles first with a V shape from the centre.

Next I carefully glued all the created semicircles on top of each other from the edges and a perpendicular

line at the centre.

Step 4:

Keep repeating the same with the glue until all paper is neatly stacked on top of each other. Give the glue some time to set then tease open gently fixing any imperfections before the glue bonds totally.

The cylindrical design has been created using the same method but the paper has been cut into squares. Once you get the concept of how the design is being created your imagination of the shapes you can make is unlimited. Just recycle paper for your experiments!