To get started, all you need is to download and print our Papel Picado templates. Print your chosen templates and cut the sheet of paper in half along the solid line. Fold each template along the dotted line.
How can I use this resource?
With this resource, you can create your own colorful and festive garlands with papel picado, a traditional Mexican paper cutting art. It's a fun and easy activity to celebrate Mexican art and culture. You can use this resource to create stunning paper decorations. All you need is some tissue paper, scissors, glue, and string. You can follow the instructions and the templates to cut out the shapes and glue them on the string. You can also mix and match different colors and designs to make your own unique garlands. When the colorful tissue paper flutters in the wind, Papel Picado looks especially beautiful.
What does this resource contain?
This resource contains 16 templates for making tissue paper decorations. Each template has a different design. You can print the templates on regular paper and use them as guides to cut out the tissue paper. The resource also provides you with some information about the history and meaning of Mexican paper cutting art.
About Papel Picado
Papel Picado is made by cutting designs into thin tissue paper that is then hung up as decoration for various occasions such as weddings, Easter, Christmas and the Day of the Dead in Mexico. Unlike conventional garlands, large individual sheets are glued together on a string to form long chains. The colors of the paper are strikingly bright. The designs that are hung on the Day of the Dead, ‘Dia de los Muertos’, are especially popular. The patterns are composed of whimsical skeletons riding a bicycle or playing an instrument, for example. Papel Picado is a folk art in Mexico that was adopted from the Aztecs. The Aztecs carved their designs, which often depicted gods and goddesses, into peeled off tree bark with various chisel tools. Even today, Papel Picado designs and patterns are painstakingly cut by hand, just not in bark, but in paper. Over time, a new technique developed that is much easier to do and became very popular with children throughout South America and the United States: simple patterns are cut out of thin tissue paper with a pair of scissors.
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Papel Picado - Traditional Mexican Paper Cutting
4126-en
Make your own papel picado with this fun and easy resource. You can create colorful and festive garlands with 16 different designs.
Grade Levels
Print Yourself PDF
Skill Focus
Subject Area
Technik
Arts
Popular Themes
Resource Type
What you’ll need
Scissors,
String,
Tissue paper,
Glue,
Printing paper
Duration
1 hour +
Age
6 years +
Cut out several pieces of different colored tissue paper approximately 6x8 in (15x20 cm), lay them exactly on top of one another and fold them hamburger style down the middle.
Place tissue paper inside the folded template and tape them together at the top. Cut along the design border.
Fold the template so that only half the shapes are visible. Cut out these shapes through all layers and unfold again.
Continue folding all the shapes in this way and cutting them out. Then cut open the top edge.
Remove the tissue paper from the template and unfold it. Fold the top edge where it‘s marked with two small notches- about half an inch (1 cm).
Now glue the string for the garland inside this top fold. Lay a string on a table and cover one end with a piece of tape. Fold the top edge of the tissue paper over the string and secure it with a few drops of glue. Allow the garland to dry completely and hang it up.
Papel Picado - Traditional Mexican Paper Cutting
Make your own papel picado with this fun and easy resource. You can create colorful and festive garlands with 16 different designs.