Packing Paper Party

Happy Friday afternoon! This blog comes to you late in the day because we here at SCLS-YS were busy getting crafty all morning, just for you. Thanks to several well-packed boxes arriving at the same time, we found ourselves in possession of a surplus of very long, very twisty pieces of brown packing paper. We were about to toss them when inspiration struck. Derek held up a piece about to hit the garbage can and declared that it would make quite a convincing Rapunzel braid, if you stuck some flowers on it. We looked at each other. We knew what we had to do.

Sustainable library programs -- sustainable everything, in fact -- are trendy right now, and for good reason. Why should you throw something out when you can use it? Why create more waste in the world? Furthermore, why waste valuable budget resources on something you could have made out of something else that was going to be thrown away? In just over an hour, we came up with four ideas that you can use all of that excess packing material for to kickstart your imaginations. These could be made as decorations for a program, or if you save up enough packing paper, made as group crafts.

Standing under a jungle vine, Derek rocks a Fancy Nancy boa, Patty is resplendent with her Rapunzel braid, and Darla keeps Nagini the snake in check

This Fancy Nancy Boa will make the plainest of the plain feel fancy on a budget. To create it, Derek unrolled one of the cardboard strips and covered it with washi tape. He then rolled it back up tightly, and using scissors, chopped into it on an angle for a fine feathered effect. Paired with sunglasses, he's fancy enough to hit Rodeo drive with the best of them. 

Anyone can be a princess with this DIY Rapunzel's braid. Simply bunch up the paper (or if you're feeling more ambitious than we were, cut it into three pieces and braid it), then apply flowers liberally. These flowers are hand-cut, but Ellison die flowers will make your stylin' go smoothly. 

You'd better invite Neville to your Harry Potter Party with this five-minute Nagini floating around. Nagini's head is stuffed with part of his body (eew), then folded and stapled underneath. Once you have his head shaped the way you like it, twist his body tightly and wind it with washi tape in your favorite snakeskin pattern. 

The Jungle Book is back thanks to this past Spring's live-action feature, and kids are itching to immerse themselves in Mowgli's world. Decorate your room with verdant vines on the cheap! Twist the paper up semi-tightly, so it resembles a woody vine. Ellison leaves are the perfect size, and stapling them on gives them an authentic stick-out look. 

Are you inspired to try any other cardboard crafts? Let us know below!