4 Craft Projects You Can Make With a Home Printer

Sometimes it can be challenging to amuse your kids on a rainy Sunday – or even amusing yourself! If you have a laser or inkjet printer in your home office, worry no more because there are lots of craft projects you can make with the help of a home printer and a few other items you should have lying around the house. Here are a few ideas.

Coloring Books
Color laser printers are great for printing coloring books. Just find some black and white images online, download them, and print them off. With some clever folding, you can compile a book or place the pictures into a decorative ring binder. You can use the printer to make decorations for the front of the folder.

Poster Prints
The size of the items you print needn't be constrained to A4 or less. You can create substantial poster prints with a desktop printer. Most printers use the same procedure, so go to the Printer Preferences page, click the Page Layout tab, select Multi-Page, and select Poster Printing. Click the up or down arrow to choose 2×2, 3×3, or 4×4. Click Settings to adjust the way your poster will print. A few pages will print, and then you can piece them all together like a giant jigsaw.

Plan a Party

If someone you know has a birthday or other party coming up, you can put your printer to good use and make some party supplies.

Start by designing an invitation on a computer program such as Microsoft Word, or find an app that will create stunning invitations in no time. Print out as many as you need on some good-quality paper or card. You can also print off sticky address labels with special templates and paper.

Before party day, you can print off some birthday banners or bunting. You can personalize the decorations with photos of the special person. Create party bags, napkins, and cardboard cake decorations with the help of your trusty printer.

After the event, thank you cards can be sent out to all those who gave gifts.

Make a Wax Paper Image Transfer
You can make everyday items more stylish by decorating them with attractive transfers. It is quick and easy to make decorative transfers if you have an inkjet printer and some wax paper.

Attach a piece of wax paper onto some card that is sized to fit through the printer. Find an image that appeals to you online, mirror the image in Print Settings so that it is reversed, and then print.

Find a solid object such as a piece of wood, furniture, or a metal box to put the transfer on. Next, remove the wax paper from the card and place it face down onto the object. Rub over the image with a credit card or similar flat utensil to transfer the image. Sometimes it helps to very slightly dampen the object. The image may not look crisp and pristine, so it is suited more to decorative items with a rustic theme. Once the transfer is dry, you can seal it with a varnish spray to make it more hard-wearing.

You can make hundreds of things with a printer and some imagination.