CRAFT PAPER WESTERN BOOTS
great for any age
In this podcast we will make western boots out of craft paper
Supplies you will need for the boots:
pencils
scissors
poster board or cardboard for the boot templates
brown craft paper, paper grocery sacks or construction paper
black, brown, or dark colored construction paper cut into long rectangles for the boot straps
stick glue
markers, colored pencils, gel pens, oil pastels
SUPPLIES FOR THE SPURS:
metalic paper, certificate seals or heavy duty aluminum foil
star template, spur template or flower paper punch
Optional Supplies:
craft jewels and white glue
fun stickers
This is one of the projects I created to get my students geared up for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. You can spend as little or as much money on supplies, but any way your budget leans the boots turn out lookin’ sharp.
This project is especially perfect for my students who are learning how to write in cursive. I always wonder if many schools still teach cursive or if our school is a bit old-fashioned. Students will write or print (but in fancy print) their name or a phrase, over and over, down the side of their boot, making it look like embroidered boot stitching.
Prepare for this craft by cutting enough sheets of brown craft paper for each student. Paper grocery sacks or sheets of construction paper will work, too. I have a huge roll of brown paper from the hardware store that’s made for protecting the floor when you paint your house. I love it because it’s cheap, heavy and the roll lasts forever.
Make the boot templates for students to use to trace a boot onto their craft paper. I attached a link in the show notes of my boot design if you would like to use it. Make the boots any size you want or in several sizes for the kids to choose from. It’s up to you and the size craft paper you end up using. Use something heavy for the teplate like poster board or card board so you can re-use these boot templates each year. Be sure to write “template” really big on your boot templates to keep kids from using it to color on instead of cuttting their own boots out.
Supply the boot loops or boot straps by cutting long rectangle strips of black, brown, or dark colored paper. These will be folded in half and attach to the top of the boot with stick glue after the boots are cut out. Boot loops or boot straps are the loops you put your fingers in to help pull your boots on.
For the spurs, I use a flower paper punch and metalic paper. The silver and gold flowers look just like spurs. You can also use cerfificate seals or medalions from the office supply store or use star templates for the kids to trace onto heavy duty aluminum foil and cut out.
Place the templates, craft paper, and pencils out on the tables. The kids will draw their boot and stitching first, before they cut the boots out and decorate them.
The lesson:
Students will first trace their boot onto paper using the template. Don’t have scissors on the table... we don’t want them to cut, yet.
Ask kids to practice writing their name or a phrase in cursive on scrap paper. If they are not learning cursive tell them to write in fancy writing, transforming each letter with swirls and spirals. Show them how to draw a light pencil line from the top of their boot, where the boot strap will go, straight down the side of the boot to the heel. Repeat the fancy lettering along the pencil line to look like decorative stitching down the side of the boot. Use pencil first, until they have it just right and THEN they can cut out their boot and decorate.
Hand out the scissors along with the remaining supplies. If you want to use craft jewels and fun stickers to decorate the boots, set those out, too.
Show the kids how to fold the boot strap in half, apply stick glue to the ends, and pinch them onto the top of their boot for a 3D effect.
The sole and heel of the boot looks good in brown, black, or a darker color. Large markers or oil pastel work well for this larger area to color. If using oil pastel, do that last to prevent smearing.
Use stick glue to attach half of the spur to the heel of the boot, allowing it to stick out a little.
Decorate the boots with more stitching designs or drawings of cows, barbed wire, cactus, or wild flowers to make the boots look legendary.
Sometimes I will show the older kids how to mirror the writing they have down the side of their boot onto the other side of the pencil line. Tracing paper helps do this. It’s a cool effect. You can see the sample of this in the show notes.
Show off these wild western boots for the rest of the school to see. Yee Haw!
great for any age.