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PlayOwl
A small square paper basket with yellow spokes and blue strips woven over and under around its sides.
The finished project.

Paper craft

Woven Paper Basket

  • Growing (level 3 of 5)
  • 40 min
  • 10 steps
  • Ages 7–12 (a guide, not a rule)
  • Uses scissors
  • Uses glue
  • Adult help suggested
Start Making Print with template

Weaving means going over one, under the next. Here the spokes stand up around a square bottom, and four paper strips weave around them, each row the opposite way from the one below so the basket holds together. The finished basket is about 5 cm (2 in) square and 5 cm tall: big enough for paper eggs, crayons or tiny treasures.

Before you start

You need

Decorating (optional): Color the strips in stripes or dots before weaving, or use a different color for every row.

No template a (spokes) printed on yellow paper or thin card? No printer? Draw a 5 cm square with three 1 cm wide, 6.5 cm long spokes on each side, and cut strips 1.2 x 21.5 cm from paper. Use strips cut from magazine pages for a colorful basket.

For the grown-up: Help cut the narrow slits between the spokes right up to the bottom square, and hold the spokes up while the first strip goes round.

Use blunt-tip scissors and cut away from your fingers.

How to place the paper before the first step
Your paper: Print template A at 100% (Actual size) and check the 5 cm bar with a ruler. Lay it printed side up.
  • Valley fold: blue dashes. Fold toward you, like a valley.
  • Mountain fold: pink dash-dot. Fold away from you, like a mountain.
  • Crease: a thin gray line where you folded before.
  • Cut: a thick solid line with scissors.
  • Glue: a yellow area marked "glue".
  • Turn over: flip the whole model to its other side.

Step by step

Each step shows what to do (left) and how it should look after (right).

  1. Step 1: cut, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 1 result Result
    Step 1 of 10 Cut Cut out the star shape along the solid line. Cut each slit right up to the bottom square, but not into it.
  2. Step 2: fold and unfold, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 2 result Result
    Step 2 of 10 Fold and unfold Fold every spoke back along the dashed lines around the square, press hard, then unfold.
  3. Step 3: turn over, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 3 result Result
    Step 3 of 10 Turn over Turn the star over, so the plain side faces up.
  4. Step 4: valley fold, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 4 result Result
    Step 4 of 10 Valley fold Lift all twelve spokes up along the creases, so they stand around the square bottom with the colored side outside.
  5. Step 5: cut, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 5 result Result
    Step 5 of 10 Cut Cut out four blue strips from template B. Each has a small glue end. (Template B, the sheet of strips.)
  6. Step 6: weave, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 6 result Result
    Step 6 of 10 Weave Weave the first strip around the bottom of the spokes: outside one spoke, inside the next, all the way round. (Back to the basket.)
  7. Step 7: glue, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 7 result Result
    Step 7 of 10 Glue Where the strip meets its start, glue the glue end over the other end.
  8. Step 8: weave, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 8 result Result
    Step 8 of 10 Weave Weave the second strip just above the first, the opposite way: inside where the first went outside. Glue its ends.
  9. Step 9: weave, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 9 result Result
    Step 9 of 10 Weave Weave the third and fourth strips the same way, each the opposite of the row below. Push the rows down so they sit snug.
  10. Step 10: glue, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 10 result Result
    Step 10 of 10 Glue Fold the top of each spoke over the last strip, into the basket, and glue it inside. Your basket is ready!
A small square paper basket with yellow spokes and blue strips woven over and under around its sides.

You made it!

Yours may look a little different. That is part of making things by hand.

Print the steps

Template

Print the template at 100% (Actual size), not "Fit to page". Then measure the check bar with a ruler: it must be 5 cm (2 in) long.

  • Template A: basket bottom with 12 spokes (preview, not to scale) Template A: basket bottom with 12 spokes · 180 × 180 mm. Bottom square 50 mm; spokes 10 mm wide and 65 mm long. Print at 100%.
  • Template B: weaving strips (preview, not to scale) Template B: weaving strips · 120 × 219 mm. Strips 12 x 215 mm with a 15 mm glue end. Print at 100%.
Print the template

If something goes wrong

A strip goes outside two spokes in a row.

Pull it back and count again: outside, inside, outside, inside. Each row is the opposite of the row below.

The spokes flop over while you weave.

Crease the bottom folds again, or clip each strip to a spoke with your fingers until it is glued.

The strip is too short to go round.

Keep the rows pushed close to the spokes so the basket does not bulge, or glue on a spare strip.

Helpful hints

  • Weave loosely first, then slide each row down and pull it snug before gluing.
  • Two colors of strips make a checker pattern.

An original PlayOwl project.

  • A blue paper fish with orange, yellow, green and red strips woven through its body in a checkerboard, with a big eye and a smile.

    Woven Paper Fish

    Easy (level 2 of 5) 25 min Ages 5–9 Paper craft Printed template on printer paper (Letter or A4) Scissors Glue Adult help suggested
  • A blue paper mat woven with yellow strips that make diagonal stripes, framed by a blue border.

    Patterned Woven Paper Mat

    Confident (level 4 of 5) 40 min Ages 7–12 Paper craft Colored paper printed with the mat template Scissors Glue Adult help suggested
  • An open square paper box in orange-red, seen from above at an angle, with four walls and a flat bottom.

    Open Square Box

    Growing (level 3 of 5) 15 min Ages 7–12 Origami Square of origami paper No scissors No glue