Children enthusiastically engage in various types of creativity, especially if adults help them in this. They like to experiment and try new materials in their work. Crafts from cocktail tubes are an original way not only to captivate a child with new fun, but also to take care of the environment. After all, every year, all over the world, millions of tubes are thrown into a landfill. Of course, crafts will not prevent an ecological catastrophe, but kids will be proud to contribute to the protection of nature.
Christmas wreath
In the West it is customary to decorate homes with wreaths for the holidays. This tradition comes to us. Crafts from cocktail tubes in the form of a wreath can be made even by small children. For work, you need a cardboard ring, the outer diameter of which is 20 cm, and the inner - 12 cm. Dimensions may be different. A small area of cardboard is lubricated with universal glue or glued with double-sided tape. The tubes are laid out in a circle. The ends can be made the same length or different. Trimming is done after gluing. By this principle, you can make not only a wreath, but also a radiant sun, a Bethlehem star or a fantasy flower to decorate a children's room, class or group.
Baby jewelry
Little fashionistas love jewelry. Do-it-yourself bracelets and beads made by girls will be worn with special pride, because no one has them. And making them is very simple. Cut the colored tubes into small pieces and string them on a fishing line or thin elastic band. If you alternate them with beads, you will get not just crafts from the tubes for a cocktail with your own hands, but also bright original jewelry. What else does a fashionista need in the summer ?! Finished products can be supplemented with kanzashi flowers, various pendants and pendants, details made of felt or wool.
Tube geometry
Making crafts from cocktail tubes is not only exciting, but also informative. This material is ideal for studying the basics of geometry, in particular simple and complex shapes. The tubes are easily bent and take any shape: triangle, square, rhombus. And these simple elements can be assembled into more complex shapes: a pyramid, a tetrahedron, a hexahedron and many others.
Putting a triangle out of a straw is pretty simple. Flatten the short end of the straw and insert into the opposite. Shape a regular triangle. Or you can cut the same pieces and pass a thread through them. Tie the ends.
To build a three-dimensional figure, triangles are fastened together using pieces of adhesive tape. This lesson will be interesting for children of school age. After all, this is an opportunity to develop spatial thinking.
Flower Arrangements
You can make asters from straws and create a floral arrangement. For work, it is necessary to cut the tubes into segments 4 cm long, cutting the ends at an angle of 45 degrees. From a cardboard cut a circle of 3-5 cm in diameter. Using a hot gun, glue the first row of straws around the edge. Then fix the second row, which will be located at a slight angle to the first. Pour glue into the center and insert pieces of straw into it to fill the entire space.
Craft from the tubes for the cocktail “Flowers” can become the basis of the original panel. Glue a few ready-made asters to a sheet of cardboard and add with leaves of cloth or paper and other elements as desired. Paste in frame.
In the same way, not only asters are made, but also chrysanthemums, for which you need to cut longer pieces.
Voluminous flowers
You can also make bulk flowers from cocktail tubes for crafts for children.
One of the options: stick tubes with rings around the lid from the plastic bottle so that the bend is at the lid itself. Cut off excess ends below. And straighten the top, directing the tubes in different directions.
Another option for a floral craftwork from cocktail tubes: cut the tubes into pieces 4 cm long. From one edge to the middle, make several cuts (fringe) and fluff. To make the flower more fluffy, you can combine two such blanks by inserting one into the other. At the end of a long straw, attach a plasticine ball and insert prepared blanks into it over the entire surface.
Pencil or vase
Glue a box or other container with pieces of tubules. You can make patterns or alternate colors as you wish.
Frame
You can insert a photo or picture into a frame of your own production. From cardboard cut the blank frame of the desired size and shape. Glue the edges with tubes. You can glue them directly, at an angle or end. Fantasy will tell you options.
Shade
From what designers do not create lampshades and shades for fixtures. Plastic tubes of different colors are a great option for such work. They transmit light well, and colored plastic creates a mesmerizing game of glare and colors. The easiest option is to stick long or short tubes to the frame or fabric lampshade, and the exclusive lamp is ready.
Some tips
If you need to make an even row of blanks (for example, to simulate a fence for crafts from cocktail tubes), the straws need to be laid out on the table in the desired sequence and secured with tape. Cut the desired size. All pieces will be even.
It is not necessary to buy new packaging of straws to make crafts from cocktail tubes for children. You can not throw out and collect used after drunk drinks.
For their manufacture, thin and light plastic is used. It glues well to adhesive tape, hot or universal glue.
Crafts from cocktail tubes are an opportunity to usefully spend time with children and teach them how to work with new materials. But not only children can use straws in their work, quite adult designers successfully use this material in their installations, creating unique masterpieces that can easily be repeated on their own.