Adult Coloring Book Project

I love adult coloring books, but I always wonder what people do with them when they finish a page.  They are too pretty to leave in a book, so  I came up with this pretty cool Adult Coloring Book Project.

Some of my blogging friends do a monthly Destash Challenge.  It’s a way to encourage you to use what’s in your stash without having to buy anything.  I’m happy to say that everything I used was stuff I already had.

 

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I got three awesome adult coloring books for Christmas.  One has beautifully decorated Christmas Trees, one is called Scandinavian Christmas, and the third is Snowflake Mandalas.

Any type of coloring pages can be used for this project, but mandalas are the perfect shape.  Mine were snowflakes that I colored using Paper Mate Ink Joy pens.

 

Supplies Needed for Adult Coloring Book Project

• Mandala Coloring Book
• Paper Mate Ink Joy Gel pens
• Scissors
• Circle Template
• Triangle Template
• Pencil
• Stylus or Scorer
• Ruler
• Glue Stick
• Glitter, rhinestones, flowers, glitter glue (optional)
• Hole Punch
• Ribbon or string

Instructions

 

Color all of your circles.  I started with colored pencils, but I wanted the colors to be brighter.  I bought a set of Paper Mate Ink Joy pens, and I love them.  However, I should have gotten a thicker tipped pen.  The thin tips didn’t allow me to color large areas.  I still like how it turned out though.  I did a lot of outlining on some of the pages which helped to add color without having to color large areas.

You will need 20 circles all the same size for this project.  Yes, it took me quite awhile to color all of those pages with  .5 mm pens.  I really enjoy adult coloring books though.  I color for a little bit every night before going to bed.  It doesn’t take long to finish 20 pages when you color every night.

I used each page to make one 7 1/4″ circle, but you can make your circles any size.  If you have an all over type of pattern, you could make a smaller Adult Coloring Book Project and get two 3 1/2″-4″ circles from one page.

 

 

Decide how big you want to make your circles, and make a template that size.  I used my Cricut Explore to cut out a 7 1/4″ template from cardstock.

You will also need an equilateral triangle.   That means that all of the sides on the triangle are equal.  (My geometry teacher would be so proud of me.) You would think that would be very easy to figure out, but I can tell you it WAS NOT.

Fortunately, I used my Cricut and kept tweaking it until I got it the right size.  You need each tip of the triangle to touch the edge of your circle.  I’m sure there’s a geometry theorem out there to figure it out, but heck if I could find it.  I guess I really should have taken a second year of geometry to know these things.

 

Using your template, trace the circle on all of your pages and cut them out with scissors.  I could have used the Cricut Explore to cut them out, but I was afraid I would have them off centered or would rip one.

Ink the edges of the circles.  This is optional.

 

 

Use the triangle template and trace it on the BACK of all of the circles.  I used a pencil.  If I had used a ball point pen, I could have skipped the next step and saved a little time.

Using a ruler as a guide, go over the lines you just drew with a scoring or embossing tool.

 

 

With the front side up, fold on the scored lines so that all of the flaps are up.

 

 

Now comes the tricky part.  You need to glue all of the flaps together to create your sphere.  Start by gluing four flaps in a row.  I used a glue stick.  Wet glue like Elmer’s is thin and will make your paper warp.  A glue stick will give you time to move your pieces if you don’t have them aligned correctly the first try.

 

 

Keep adding additional circles to the four that you started with.  Keep in mind that there will be five circles at each point.  The larger your ball, the more difficult it is to get all of the circles to line up perfectly.  Some of mine aren’t perfect, but you can’t tell.

If you have trouble getting your glue to stick, use clothespins to hold it together until it starts to dry.

Add glitter, rhinestones, or other embellishments if you’d like.

Punch a hole in one of the flaps, so you can hang your sphere.

 

Now that you know how to make this sphere, you can use all kinds of materials to make one. It’s a great way to save and display kids’s artwork, Christmas Cards, and photos.

 

 

Just 2 Sisters has 4 free coloring pages that are perfect for this project. Print them 5 times and color them with different colors to have enough circles to make this cool sphere.

3 Boys and a Dog has an Advanced Coloring Page Set with patterns that would work well with this project for just $1.99.  They also have a wonderful selection of Adult and Kids Coloring Pages.

 

If you’re interested in more coloring pages, Smart Mom Smart Ideas has these great Encouraging Adult Coloring Pages that you can frame.

It’s difficult to fine Adult Coloring pages that aren’t feminine.  Level Up! by Tyler Warren is a wonderful coloring book for men, boys, and teens.  It’s a book that can bridge the gap between generations and genders, making this a fun activity for the whole family.

 

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