Love sloths, pugs, flamingos or unicorns? Always wanted one of your very own? Well now you can with these fabulous new paper craft kits from Flamingo Paperie.

I made a couple of these kits, and they are fun, a lot bigger than you realise, really sturdy and I don’t think you need to be a paper craft expert!

Each kits contains everything you need to complete it, even a pair of scissors.

The models are big! For example the sloth is over 30cm long, so not far off life-size.*

The paper craft kits are presented in a 100% recyclable/biodegradable gift box. I think they’re great for a treat for some crafting me-time, a perfect gift for a friend and good news for the environment too.

What’s inside the paper craft kits?

If you’re worried you aren’t experienced enough to complete a kit, then you needn’t be. There’s a picture for guidance on the front of each kit. On the bottom you’ll find some basic tips and instructions, with more instructions inside. All the tools you need are in the box, including glue, in an easy to apply tube with nozzle, scissors, scoring tool if required, cocktail sticks to help spread the glue into difficult to reach corners and sheets of card printed with the templates ready to cut, fold, score and stick.

Animal kits

There are several different animals to choose from, sloth, flamingo, unicorn, pug and t-rex. They have varying levels of ‘difficulty’ though it’s not so much a difficulty, rather a time required to complete each one. The quickest is the unicorn with an estimated 3 hour construction time, the longest is the t-rex with an estimated 18 hour construction time.

Floral kits

All sets of flowers look really stunning when complete and you don’t have to be an expert paper crafter to make them look good. The estimated construction time for each kit reflects the time required to complete it. It’s not a reflection of how experienced a crafter you need to be. Each peonie flower takes about 2.5 hours while each rose is estimated to take about 4 hours. There is enough in each kit for 6 flowers or more. These are fun projects to do alone but I recommend completing the flowers with friends. Have a crafting afternoon.

Leaves and Feathers

The leaves and feathers kits is a set of templates for various leaves and feathers to be drawn round and cut out. The kit contains 10 sheets of different coloured card and 10 metres of twine so you can use them to embellish your gift wrapping. Alternatively they would make a beautiful forever wreath or table decoration.

Who are the kits for?

The guidance on the box suggests that the kits are suitable for over 12 years old but that under 12 could complete with supervision. I made the peonies with my 11 year old daughter and she had no problem completing it (in fact her flower looked better than mine but don’t tell her I said that!).  I would say age 8 upwards with help. You don’t have to make the kits in one go so you can stagger the completion to suit the attention span of the child. Equally if you’re completing this on your own, you don’t need to set aside 18 hours in one sitting to complete the t-rex, you can do it in stages as fits your time.

I made the flamingo on my own but over a few days, doing a little bit here and there. It isn’t difficult. I did take care to line up the tabs carefully and to hold them in place while the glue set but I was really impressed with how quickly it stuck.

A few tips from my experience

The animals are made of thick card which keeps shape really well. The models are really sturdy once built.

The flowers are made of tissue paper. Mine travel about as I have them on display at fairs and I’ve inadvertently squashed them a few times, you wouldn’t know! I readjust them very easily, and quite often!

The glue takes a while to dry on the tissue paper on the flowers. The tissue goes a bit soggy if you stick too many petals together at once. Our other hint would be hold the peonies upside down to stick the petals on. This gave a better shape and was easier to stick the petals.

My biggest tip would be to do the flowers as a group. This was fun. Plenty tea and cake and chat while we cut and stuck.

If you have any questions about the kits then just drop me an email.

*Three toed sloths are approximately 58cm long, at full stretch, according to LiveScience, our model is over 30cm and he’s not stretched out!