Thanks to today’s Guest Make and Taker Amanda for filling in while I’m away. Her blog Kiddio is a delightfully crafty site with oodles of creative ideas to make life with kids fun. She’s sharing a family tradition with us that she’s introduced for Back to School.
I love finding quirky/little-known holiday traditions and sharing them with my children–May Day brings May Baskets, St Nicholas’ Day delivers gifts in their shoes, now the first day of school can bring a new tradition with it. When German children head out for their first day of first grade their parents gift them with a “schultute,” a large paper gift cone filled with sweets, school supplies, and various other goodies. I was so taken with this fun tradition, I’ve been waiting years to share it with my own children (I was so eager that we did it for Kindergarten!).
We made a smaller version to hold a few treats, small supplies, and the like, but you could easily scale this up to a traditional size using a sheet of poster board.
Supplies for Paper Cones:
- Two sheets of colored paper or cardstock
- 6″ wide strip of tissue paper
- Glue stick
- Ribbon
- Pinking shears (optional)
- Treasures to fill the schultute
Using a compass or large bowl, cut a quarter-circle out of paper and a second one slightly (perhaps 3/4″) smaller out of a contrasting paper. Lay the smaller one atop the large one and glue together. This is a good time to decorate the outside. I glued cut paper decorations on, but you could also use stickers, glitter, markers, etc.
Glue your strip of tissue paper along the inside rounded edge of your paper. Press to adhere well. Roll the paper into a cone and glue. This can be tricky, so be patient!
Now fill with small treasures and treats, then tie with ribbon. We used purple curling ribbon and orange seam binding on ours. These would also make lovely party favor or gift bags, or a fun project for a crafty back-to-school playgroup!
These are all too easy and fun for any type of special occasion. I love these for back to school, but I think they might be my new treat bags for friends or teachers. They look so festive. Thanks Amanda for sharing a new tradition. Check out Kiddio for other crafty goodies shared by Amanda.
Your post made this much easier than some of the others. I also did mine on a smaller scale but I couldn’t figure out how to shape the cone template until I came across yours. Thanks! Too cute! (Mine turned out here: http://diyingtobedomestic.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/alvin-and-the-chipmunks-birthday-party/) I can see how bigger would be more sturdy!
I wonder if you could also use paper plates to make the cones and cut them in quarters, and then have a bit of a ruffly looking edge to them??? Thanks for sharing…this is a great idea!!!
YEAH IT WAS TOO EASY
NO BIG DEAL
What a stirring post.
LOVE this project. What a great idea. I added a link to this post on my blog.
I love this project! I made some with my scrapbooking supplies and miniaturized them. They will be great party favors. Thanks for your great directions!
I’m going to do this for my New Year’s party! This year is an African theme so my mind is racing! Thanks so much.
VERY cute idea, I love Amanda’s blog
My husband’s family did this when he was growing up and now we do it with my kids. We do the larger poster board size kind and I stuff it with anything that they might need for school-this year I got them fun items to put in their home lunches that I might not have put in them regularly (cookies, fancy drinks, etc.) I have also put new toothbrushes, lip gloss, shirts, hair barrettes, etc. My husband and I also write a letter to each child about all of the things we think they do great and about our wishes for them for the new year. It is a fun tradition and my children look forward to it every year. I haven’t decorated the cones in the past but have just used colored posterboard. I love the look of the decorated ones and will probably do that next year!
I love these! They look so simple, but so fun! I think they would make great little treats to hand out to your guests!
Thank you so much for the kind words, Marie. I appreciate the opportunity to share, and so pleased that everyone thinks it’s a fun idea :)
Cute and quick packaging for gifting.
That is a fabulous idea!!! Thankyou for sharing :)
Love the idea! Very cute!
Tissue paper around the top, genius! Never thought of that, thanks for sharing.