A ballerina made of napkins and wire is a craft, the production of which takes very little time. At the same time, the possibilities of decorating and using it are quite wide.
A separate advantage is that the manufacture of do-it- yourself ballerinas from napkins and wire can be an excellent entertainment for children. The formation of body parts and clothing contributes to the development of fine motor skills of the hands, and the finished figure will become one of the favorite dolls.
What should be stocked up
For this work, you need a set of specific tools and materials:
- Wire (it is better to choose strong and rigid, but it must be flexible for flexion by fingers).
- Nippers and pliers.
- Sharpened scissors.
- Several multilayer napkins (white or multi-colored).
- PVA glue or starch.
- Thin fishing line.
- Additional elements for decorating the figures (shreds of fabric, mesh, organza, tulle, beads, beads, fragments of jewelry and others).
Work sequence: wire frame
A napkin and wire ballerina is a paper body on a rigid frame. First you need to make the foundation, the so-called skeleton of the future dancer.
For this, wire is useful. From it, it is necessary to form the torso, arms and legs. In those places where the feet and hands will be located, the wire should be rolled into oval loops. It is necessary to achieve the same size and shape of these details, otherwise the ballerina from a napkin and wire will look messy. In the same way, a blank for the head is performed (only here a larger loop is needed).
In total, six pieces of wire are required:
- Two form both hands.
- Two will go on each leg.
For strength, pieces of wire should be twisted together. The body will be the most dense, because it will be formed of four layers.
Do not worry about possible irregularities, as they will later be hidden under layers of paper.
Paper work
At the next stage, you will need to prepare an adhesive solution (PVA with water in a ratio of 1: 1).
Napkins need to be divided into layers, they will be used separately. If there is a color pattern on the top layer of the napkin, it should be postponed (it can be used in the process of making clothes), because only white paper is useful for the body.
Prepared napkins need to be torn into strips about two centimeters wide. You cannot cut with scissors, clear cuts will be visible on the finished product.
Now each strip needs to be soaked in a glue solution and wrapped around a wire billet. This work is painstaking, it must be done carefully and carefully. The ballerina should be graceful and graceful, arms and legs should be formed even (without tubercles).
It should be noted that the partners of the ballerina - boys - made of wire and napkins will be more massive. At the finish stage, you can glue the figure with undiluted PVA.
A ballerina from a napkin and wire will be ready when it is completely dry (at least a day). If, nevertheless, tubercles and irregularities have formed, the dried figure can be corrected with fine sandpaper.
Dress the ballerina
Dresses for dancing figures are carried out according to one principle, but their color and style can be changed at the discretion of the craftswoman. Costume for dancers consists of a colored layer of napkins.
Dress manufacturing procedure:
- Choose a napkin and fold it in the same way as usually folded to cut snowflakes.
- Measure the length of the dress (from shoulder to calf) and shorten the folded napkin in accordance with this size. The cut line should be rounded.
- Squeeze the napkin in your hand for wrinkles, you can rotate in a spiral in one direction and the other.
- Expand the resulting dress. Cut three holes in the center. This is the neck and armholes for the hands.
- Put the dress on the ballerina, tie a waist belt of thread or ribbon.
The cuffs of the men's suit are performed in the same manner. Or they do it even easier: they cut out a rectangle, fold it and crease it.
Then one edge is tied to the dancer’s hand or foot, and the second is straightened, forming ruffles.
That's the whole story about how to make a ballerina from wire and napkins. All that remains is to attach a loop of thin fishing line to its crown, and you can decorate the room, Christmas tree or terrace.