Paper Palm Leaves

You will need:
Templates
Coloured paper or thin cardstock, various colours
Wooden skewers or thin garden canes
Tools: scoring board, scoring tool, clips, small hole punch
Glue

Concertina Fold & Bind Method
1. Take a sheet of landscape cardstock and score vertically at regular intervals of 1.5cm-2.5cm to the end of the sheet. Cut away any excess after the last score line and put to one side.

2. Concertina fold the sheet and crease the folds well. Flatten out the sheet and fold in half on the central score line. Sketch and cut a gentle curve from the top of the centre fold to the base of the sheet.

3. Refold the concertinas and glue the end of a skewer inside the central fold using a strong adhesive. Apply glue along the bottom edge of the concertina and press together, clamping with clips until the glue dries.

4. Take the leftover strip of card and curl over the blade of a pair of scissors. Trim down to around 10cm and apply glue to the concave side. Remove the clips from the bottom of the palm leaf and wrap the glued strip tightly around the base to hold it securely.

Alternative Leaves Using This Method
1. Cut down from the curved edge of the leaf on every alternate score line to approximately 5cm from the bottom to make wedge-shaped sections on each leaf.

2. Keep the sheet folded in half after cutting the curve and sketch a curve from the centre point to the adjacent score line. Draw a curve from this point back up to the edge of the next score line. Continue drawing ‘fingers’ to the end of the leaf, cut through both layers of card while flat, then fold and glue as before.

Concertina Fold & Fold In Half Method
1. Using a square sheet of paper, score down the centre. Rotate the sheet 90° and score at regular intervals across the central line. Concertina fold these score lines and crease well before flattening the sheet and folding in half on the original score line.

2. With the fold line at the bottom, sketch a curve from the top-left corner to approximately halfway down the right side. Draw a series of ‘fingers’ from score line to score line and cut away the excess paper, keeping to one side.

3. Unfold the sheet, refold the concertinas and punch a small hole through all the layers on the centre fold. Fit a skewer through the hole and apply some glue to the top of it. Fold the concertinas up around the top of the skewer and clip to hold in place while the glue dries.

4. Cut a 2cm x 10cm strip of leftover paper and fold in half lengthways. Open out and glue this strip to the back of the leaf where the longest parts of the concertina meet to join the central finger.

5. Once the glue has dried, ease out the sides of the leaf. If your fingers have been cut deep enough you should be able to glue the shortest ones together around the skewer to keep the leaf as fanned out as possible.