3D Paper Cut Dreamcatcher

Hello everybody!

It's been a long time since my last instructable, but I had good reasons ;) A year ago I opened my Etsy shop "Lights & Silhouettes" so I was busy making papercut silhouette shadow boxes, templates and, news of the week, the papercut dreamcatchers that I'm going to teach you here!

I'm very proud of this creation I made and I hope you enjoy this tutorial.

What makes this dreamcatcher totally unique is the fact that it's made of 3 different and separate layers. That's why I call it tridimensional. And the best part of this is that it creates different shadow effects depending where the light is!

The process is not difficult, but if you have never done papercutting before, then know that patience is one of the main ingredients!

• 200-220 gsm cardstock
• pencil
• ruler
• x-acto knife
• white glue
• paint brush
• thin strand
• awl

This dreamcatcher is composed of 3 different round designs. I call them layers.

Draw 3 different designs on cardstock. All of them need to have a round frame with the same depth.
The central design (that will be layer 2) has a regular round frame. You can make it any size you want, mine has a diameter of 10cm (4'').
The other 2 designs need to have a diameter that is at least 0,4cm bigger that the central one. As you can see, mine don't have a "smooth" frame in this case, I made tiny flower petals all around it to give them a slightly different shape.

When you are satisfied with your designs, carefully cut all of them using an x-acto knife.

Feathers are one of the main things in a dreamcatcher.

So draw 3 different feathers and cut them out as well.
If you need some help with the design, google "feather silhouettes" and you'll find plenty of them!

When you are done cutting them, use an awl to make a hole at the base of each feather.

In order to hang your dreamcatcher and its feathers, you need to have some kind of hooks.

I designed these with a hole on one side. Mine are 1,4cm x 0,9cm (0,5'' x 0,3'').
You need a total of 4 hooks but you have to join 2 together in order to make one, so draw 8 of these.

Cut them out including the hole, then fold them in half.
Take 2 pieces and glue the sides with the holes together as you can see in the pictures.
Do the same with all of them so you'll obtain 4 hooks.

Cut a few strips of cardstock. It doesn't matter how long they are because you can always add more to make them longer, but what's important is that they must be 0,5cm (0,2'') wide. This is what will separate one layer from the other.

So, start with one of your external designs and apply some glue along the frame. Attach the cardstock strip all around it as you can see in the pictures.
Do the same with the central design then attach it to the first one.

Do not attach the last design yet.

Cut another strip of cardstock that is as long as the circumference of your central design.

Make a sign in the middle of it and cut out a thin slit for the hook to pass through, as you can see in the picture. The slit has to be as long as the hook's width.

Now measure 6cm (2,4'') from it on both sides and make other 2 slits (one on each side).
Insert a hook in each slit (3 in total).

Apply glue all around the designs that you attached previously and attach the strip with hooks all around it (see pictures).

Attach the remaining hook to one end of the strip and - once glued it all around the circle - to the other end as well to close it.

Finally glue the last design on top to finish the round part of your dreamcatcher.

Cut 3 pieces of strand.

Insert one of them through a feather's hole and a hook's hole then make a knot.
Do the same with the other 2 feathers and strands.

Your dreamcatcher is ready! You can add one more string to the top hook so you can hang it anywhere :)

If you liked this tutorial and want to show some love, please vote for it! It really means a lot to me. Thank you!