Paper Punk

While the holiday season is in full swing – festive music on the radio, houses lit up on every street, finding it nearly impossible to find a parking spot at the mall, etc. we couldn’t help but find ourselves overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the task of finding the perfect new ornament for the tree this year with the hopes of hearing awe-inducing ahhhhs from the family.

This year we wanted to do something different and decided to take it up notch by “punking” our Christmas tree, gifts, and space.

Christmas Tree

We took some of the extra pieces we had laying around and created our own ornaments for our tree. You can use a kit that suits the color of your tree or you can light it up with something that attracts the eye. Either way, there is an ornament waiting to be hung.

Gifts

Traditional wrapping paper can be so yawn.  This year, we took some time to punk our gifts by adding the stickers from our classic kits and graffiti sticker sets. Choose the stickers that say (y)our message for an added personal touch “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” – Mother Teresa.

Décor

We’ve all been to houses that have overdone their decorations, but there is no such thing with Paper Punk. We love this table top tree for the center of a dining table, or this Paper Punk wreath to welcome friends into your home. 

We have a lot of fun creating with the classic kits, and even more fun giving them a little holiday twist. It’s no surprise that Paper Punking our decorations is a match made in heaven.

If you’re tired of your typical decorations, punk it! #MakeSomething

Besides the educational value and downright fun Paper Punk provides when constructing your kit, the end result can be both gratifying and visually stunning.

You may be wondering, ok what now? What else can you do with your Paper Punk after you’ve made your masterpiece aside from basking in the afterglow of neural stimulation? What about turning your smart into art by displaying it in your work or living space?

Accessorizing your space with Paper Punk provides a “pop” for any room, dinner table, or office space. Show off your creation at home or work — the family room, bedroom, and office are great spaces to do just that and here’s why.

Family Room:

The family room is usually home to your TV, bookshelf, family portraits and guests. Accessorizing this room with the things you love like your Paper Punk creations will add to the narrative of the room and provide a little insight on you. Not only does Paper Punk provide great abstract art for the room, it also is an awesome activity for all of your guests to join in on the fun and leave a piece of them with you.

Bedroom:

Minimalist bedrooms make for the best rooms for Paper Punk to provide a splash of color while still keeping decor to a minimum.

Office Space:

For your office space, don’t be afraid to show off your most creative designs. Be prepared for conversations to ensue around your creations because co-workers will definitely ask about them. We still have up our Punkolantern from Halloween and it’s garnered a lot of interest. Many people put their graphic art piece on their desk or in common areas to share their eye-candy creation.

You’ll find accessorizing your space with Paper Punk as easy as it is to make it!

#MakeSomething and accessorize!

What the punk is Paper Punk?

Ultimately, Paper Punk is the love-child - the “Best of both worlds” between origami and Lego. Using the urban definition of “punk” which means “trick”, Paper Punk literally means to play a trick on paper. While paper is ever-present in our everyday lives, with Paper Punk this commonplace material is reimagined and transformed into a tool for creativity and education. A sheet of paper literally becomes a paper building block for your imagination with a few simple folds.

It all started in a creativity course I teach at Stanford’s d.school where four years ago students were assigned a simple dimensional thinking exercise. It took us about 1.5 years to prototype the patented interface and another year to get to market in a meaningful way.

The most distinguishing aspect of Paper Punk is the super smart fold-to-build play pattern and eye-candy outcome. While other contemporary construction paper-based craft kits create a sense of volume through slotting flat pieces into each other, nothing fully encloses space into modular building blocks like Paper Punk does.

One of the most rewarding aspects since starting Paper Punk has been knowing that I am helping people. Through my research project, I know empirically that building a Paper Punk can help to rewire your brain and increase your creative capacity, and that especially makes me very happy. 

I am Grace Hawthorne. Mother, artist, author, educator and creator of Paper Punk. #MakeSomething

Happy Punk-o-ween from your friends at Paper Punk!

For those of us who will be doing more treating than tricking, we have something sweet for you - a behind the scenes look at the creation of our Paper Punk “Punk-o-ween” video.

Using stop-motion, we wanted to tell the story of Punk-o-ween that features our Pup dressed up as a lion and Bot dressed up as Dracula.

We used construction paper to make Dracula’s cape and we used the included stickers to change the face of Bot, making him extra spooky.

For Pup, we used orange, red, and yellow construction paper to make his mane and tail, transforming him into a ferocious lion.

The beauty of Paper Punk is that YOU can create whatever you want. It’s totally left up to your own imagination to create and accessorize your characters. The #PaperPossibilities are endless!

Here’s a look at some other Paper Punk Halloween creations:

Happy Punk-o-ween! #MakeSomething

Materials used to make scene:

• Bot kit
• Pup kit
• Leftover Kitty kit pieces
• Cardboard
• Bristol board (2) black and blue
• Scrapbooking paper
• Sticky dots
• Scotch tape
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Candle
• X-Acto knife