Balls of braided paper to decorate parties or Christmas Tree

Believe me: with just two sheets of colored paper it is possible to make these beautiful braided spheres and rock the Christmas decoration!

Last week I discovered the wonderful work that Anna and Lene do with paper reinterpreting traditional Danish crafts! They create molds from software and make them available for free on the Paper Matrix blog. I adapted the template to fit on an A4 sheet and added the paper balls with a beaded pendant!
Here, I used the traditional colors of Christmas, but it is beautiful to decorate children’s parties using other colors. It looks beautiful even in a child’s room!

Download the template here .

Material:

Thick white and red paper (120g to 180g)
Scissors or paper cutter (I used my Silhouette Portrait machine)
White glue
Thread and needle
Beads
Hot glue

Bianca Barreto teaches how to make a paper ball on the TV program Mulher.com on TV 21st Century – Youtube video

Last Friday I taught how to make this ball on TV 21st Century and in the video I used another method to braid, but in the photo, it would not be understandable to teach that way. Once you understand the logic of this craft, you will end up braiding your way. The important thing to keep in mind is that the white paper strip has to go under the red strip and in the next round, it will go over it. This will guarantee the chess effect. And if you make a mistake, no problem, just correct it and keep braiding!

How to Braid a Paper Ball – Step by Step

1-Print and cut out the template containing 12 strips of white paper, 12 strips of red paper, 3 circles of white paper, 3 circles of red paper.
2-Glue one of the white circles and glue the ends of the 12 strips of white paper over the circle as shown in the photo. To finish off, paste another white circle on top.
3-Do the same with the red paper.

4-Superimpose the white module on top of the red module, but one module must have the strips curving to the right and another to the left.
Optional: Pass the needle with a thread in the center of the two circles, place a bead, return with the thread in the middle of the circles and finish with another bead. This will fix the center of the two molds and prevent them from slipping.
5-Pass 1 strip of red paper over 4 strips of white paper and repeat this process with the 12 strips until you complete the entire loop.

6-Pass 1 strip of white paper over 3 strips of red paper and repeat with 12 strips to complete the entire loop until all the whites are on top.
7-Pass 1 strip of red paper over 3 strips of white paper and repeat this process to complete the entire loop.

8-Repeat the same process to leave all the white strips on top and adjust the paper strips so as not to let them in between. Thus, the paper will start to bend and the three-dimensionality will appear. Secure the junction of the strips with clips so that the fit does not move and maintains the curvature.
9-Remove 1 clips and start braiding the next row. Then adjust and secure with the clips. Do this the whole vote
10- trance the next row and let the paper stick by the ends of the strips as shown in the photo. So you don’t need any more clips.
11-Repeat the braid until you reach the top.