bodner054

As a math teacher, I am always looking for something interesting for my students to do in class.  I came across the following resource.  http://www.math.nmsu.edu/breakingaway/Lessons/ancientknot1/ancientknot.html I am intrigued by this ancient knot and I am happy to find this design has roots in mathematics. I used their instructions and created the following ancient knot.  Ancient Knot Design on a 12 x 12 piece of paper  I have seen this same design at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC in Kuba textiles at the Woven Art of Central Africa exhibit in 2011.  The Africans used different color plant materials to create their designs. The plant material was worked to the point that the fibers softened and they were amazingly able to create velvet.  I think this design would look beautiful in a quilt because as the math blog says,  " It has no beginning or end, and according to folklore,...

 Holly Wreath Torus   Side view of the torus...notice the swirling pattern...lovely! I love the torus shape.  It is a sliceform that swirls around and is fascinating to look at.  I modified my original torus and created this holly wreath design.  This torus shape has been discovered by a fellow papercrafter, Carol at http://extremecards.blogspot.com/2013/11/preview-holly-wreath.html  from my blog.  She created a leaf torus and then created a holly wreath torus.  She posted her holly wreath torus a few weeks ago.  I think her holly leaf design is a little bit more shapely than mine but the holly leaf shape is still the same...great minds think alike!  Please note...I did not copy her.  I have had this design for quite a while and I just didn't have the time to publish it...too many designs and not enough time as my sleep can attest to.   Here is the PDF file of the holly leaf torus and the bow. htt...

This Christmas tree has all the elements of a big tree but in a desktop version.  I love the paper doll garland and the gold spiral garland.  The ornaments can be resized for your room size tree. The Christmas tree is assembled by sliding the pieces together.  Two of the pieces are exactly the same.  Spread them apart and place them in the base so that the are all equally spaced.  This is  similar to the witch's hat base in another post.  http://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2013/10/halloween-witchs-or-wizards-hats.html   Here is the PDF of the Christmas tree. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYTUIzNmQweTJNZlU/edit?usp=sharing Here is the .Studio file.  I used cardstock on the tree and ornaments.  The spiral gold garland and the star on top of the tree is good quality wrapping paper.  The paper doll garland is white copy paper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYZ1AxMjQ0SldVNms/edit?usp=sharing   ...

   Desk model of peace dove ornament   I love this ornament.  The dove is so pretty with the olive branch in its mouth. Here is the PDF of the dove.  There are three versions...two desktop models and a hanging ornament. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYOHlfOU9tR3FLQ1E/edit?usp=sharing Here is .Studio file.  I used cardstock.  There is a shim piece to place in the center of the wing so that there is no movement after gluing. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYZkEtTFhPR1UxbXM/edit?usp=sharing There is a fourth version here.  I eliminated the olive branch in one of the hanging ornaments.

I created two versions of this star.  One is a hanging ornament and the other is a desk model.  Here is the PDF.  It is not a very good PDF as it does not show the lines correctly.  All of the lines are connected except for the center points have a small gap.  This small gap is where the paper is  attached as a whole which allows for the spin to occur. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYMjdtZm8xdHd4eUE/edit?usp=sharing Here is the .Studio file. I used cardstock.  Assemble the star as shown in the picture below. Each star goes in the opposite direction to create the spinning effect. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYRHZlV3IySWRyRUE/edit?usp=sharing Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends! P.S.  Check back later as I have quite a few more spinners to post but not enough time.

Cone Sliceform from derived equation      My husband wrote this blog post  with the mathematical analysis and now I am updating it with the PDF's and .Studio files.  Let me explain...my husband is taking an analytical geometry course and he gave me the graphs to create this cone. I think he did a fabulous job!    I love the reflection of the trees in the glossy surface.     I think the cones look terrific as trees with my paper house from a previous post.  http://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2013/09/i-love-making-houses.html Don't you agree?   Using the distance formula r^2 = sqrt(x^2+y^2) and the formula for the line in x-z space z=h/a(x) and knowing that the radius r must equal the x value in x-z space, you combine both equations.  This gives you the equation for the surface z = h/a(sqrt(x^2+y^2).  You can change the height to radius using the parameters h and a.  To create the sliceform, you need th...

    I love to apply math to real life situations. I created the following math project for my fourth grade students. I have included all materials necessary to implement this project in the following PDF except for the grocery advertisements. (This information is also available online because most grocery stores post their advertisements online).  I also created a .Studio file of a turkey silhouette.  I cut out one turkey per student for their project. Here is the PDF files for the math project. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYWG5tMjFIeFVVdGs/edit?usp=sharing Here is the PDF file for the silhouette turkey.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYMWxOb05UM3NGQTg/edit?usp=sharing Here is the .Studio file for the silhouette turkey. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYczluYkNxdXdUUjg/edit?usp=sharing Planning a Holiday Meal   Thanksgiving dinner will be served at your home this year for ten people.   Using the loc...

Headdresses made by students I remember as a child in first grade making Thanksgiving headdresses.  I made a few versions. I have made two types of turkeys with different feathers, a pilgrim hat, and an Indian headdress. Here is the .Studio file. I used cardstock. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYWF9tVF8wV1FOTlU/edit?usp=sharing Here is the .PDF file. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYYlpiSF9JLVpJYkU/edit?usp=sharing Slide buckle through the smaller band and attach to the larger band I used a glue stick to glue the buckle on.  Bend the paper a little to conform to the curvature of your head. I used a glue stick to glue all of the parts.  It makes the paper pliable so that you can bend it a little. The little turkey on the Happy Thanksgiving headband is 3D.  The head protrudes a little. There are perforations to where it bends. The different colors were made by cutting different feathers and interchanging the parts. I added feathers to the ...

This post is just a reflection...no instructions included for the turkey...see the previous post "Plucking Turkey Feathers" for directions. I have two very mischievous kitties, Marley and Melvin and they both love paper.  I generate a lot of paper scraps in designing my paper models.   Instead of throwing the scraps away, I put them on the floor and scatter it in a pile so that I can see all of the pieces of paper that could possibly be reused. Yesterday, Marley came into the craft room crying that he was bored, he took one look at the pile of paper, kicked a few around and found the perfect victim, a round disc with a hole cut out in the middle. It fit perfectly in his mouth and he ran happily out of the room and down the stairs yowling all the way.  Marley dropped the paper eventually when he was done. Melvin came along and finished the job of destroying the enemy.  He chewed on it until it didn't look like its former self. Today, I walked into the kitchen and...

 This table decoration can pull double duty.  It is beautiful to look at but it can also be a trivia game...that is why I entitled this post, "Plucking Turkey Feathers".  There are 45 feathers and you can put interesting Thanksgiving trivia questions on them.  The person who guesses the most questions wins another slice of pie for Thanksgiving dinner. Or for those math teachers out there.  You can put 45 math problems on them and let the student select which one they want to do....just write numbers on the feathers and put them randomly in the plume. Have a sheet of 45 math problems and give the students the corresponding question.  You can reuse the turkey for different classes by reinserting the feathers. Here is the free .Studio file for the turkey. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYMFpjeXpVODJTSnc/edit?usp=sharing Here is the PDF of this same turkey if you do not have a Silhouette.  There is a lot of cutting by hand but I thin...

Using the same body from my Columbus ship,  I recreated a model of the Mayflower.  The Mayflower is flying the St. George's Cross. St. George was the patron saint of England.  I learned on our recent trip to England that the current English flag, the Union Jack is a mixture of the flags of England, Scotland and Ireland. Here is the .Studio file for the Mayflower.  I used cardstock. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYakxiR2lNYzBydzQ/edit?usp=sharing Please view my previous post as to how to put the ship together as the directions are the same except for the pole in the front of the ship which I glued directly to the front mast pole and the flag.  I cut a vertical 1 inch slit in the mast pole starting at the top and glued the flag to the pole as shown in picture. My previous ship post: http://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2013/10/can-you-name-three-ships-that-sailed.html