Midsummer Suns

The sun is oh-so-high in the sky... could it be Midsummer?! Celebrate summer days, warmth and light with this easy 3D paper sun craft.

You will need: Yellow and/or orange paper or card, Scissors, Glue, Pencil, Ruler, Something round to draw around, Needle and thread

Draw around your 'something round' in order to get a circle shape.

For this sun we were using the Paper Poetry Origami Paper leftover from our Swirly Stars blog, and as there wasn't room to get another circle from the square we used the extra paper to create some long triangles to go around our circle.

It doesn't matter what the measurements are for your triangles, as long as they feel right to you in relation to the size of your circle. You will need 6-8 circles for the middle segments of your sun, and a minimum of 6 triangles for your rays of sunshine.

With the Paper Poetry set we were able to cut two sheets at a time.

 Fold two of your circles in half and glue one side of each together.

Add one or two more segments so that they fan out into a spherical shape.

Once you have repeated this step with your other 3 or 4 circles it is time to plan how you will arrange your rays of sunshine.

This part reminded me of our Giant Freestyle Window Stars blog, which would be perfect for using as inspiration to create a kite paper sun at the window for Midsummer.

Now it's time to start gluing your triangles onto the back of one of your half-spheres. (We also glued two layers of the origami paper together to make the points more sturdy, but this isn't necessary with thicker paper or card).

Once all your points are on you can glue the other half-sphere on top, being careful to line it up with the other side.

The last thing you have to do is use your needle to attach your thread to one of your points, so that you can hang your sun up and bask in its warmth!

Next we tried a smaller sun made from kite paper, (again, double layered). You can't quite see it in this photo but the translucence gives it a lovely quality:

Taking a little bit of time out from the summer excitement to do some crafting proved to be a really good reset for my son. Crafting is always so calming and nourishing, even if it is has an exciting theme!

We hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating the Summer Solstice!

What's great about the suns we've made is that you can hang your sunshine wherever you like, and remember the feeling of sunny days.