Tutorial: How to Make Cute Paper Sharks for Scrapbooking

This blog was to share some free designs and techniques for people to make their own cute paper cut-outs for their scrapbooking and card-making. So here is my first tutorial. I hope you guys enjoy it. A template that you can print out is at the end of this tutorial. 

How to Make Cute Paper Sharks for Scrapbooking, Card Making, and Other Crafts

This is what your shark will look like when you're done. These are about 3 inches wide and 4 inches tall. These turned out a bit larger than I intended but.. luckily for you, all you have to do is resize the template before you print out your sharks and they can be any size you desire. :)

Now on to what you will need:

* Elmer's Glue

* Scissors or an Xacto blade (Xacto blade recommended)

*Pencil

*Cardstock of your choice (Im using a beautiful blue cardstock from Hobby Lobby)

*White Paper

*Small handheld circle punch (optional) 

*Tracing paper

*Cutting mat or a piece of thick cardboard to to protect your working surface if you're using an Xacto blade.

*A toothpick, needle tool, or other small object for spreading glue

*A Printer (for your template)

Take a piece of your tracing paper and your printed shark template (Im using my original sketch here)  and trace the image onto the tracing paper using a pencil. It is very important that you use a pencil and not a pen or anything else so that the pencil lines will transfer to your cardstock in the next step.

Take your tracing paper with the newly traced image on it and get your piece of cardstock. I recommend blue. Isnt this a beautiful pattern? 

Flip your cardstock over onto the back, to the unpatterned side. You dont want pencil lines on the side that we will be looking at! 

Flip your tracing paper over as well and place it on top of your cardstock. Now trace the image again, applying ample pressure so that the lines transfer from your tracing paper onto the cardstock. 

Your shark is now transferred onto the back of your cardstock! 

On the right is my tracing paper. I retraced the shark with a green colored pencil. I like to use a different color when transferring pencil lines simply because its easier to see what parts I've already traced.

( Keep in mind that when making these this way, your image will be facing the opposite direction from the original image. The template has two sharks facing both ways so that you can make both versions. Just remember to choose the shark that is facing in the opposite direction that you want the finished product to face in. )

Now its time to cut! 

For this step you need your scissors or your Xacto blade. Scissors will work fine, but an Xacto blade will offer you more control and precision. I highly recommended one if you don't own one already. You can purchase them at any art supply store and they are very inexpensive. 

Here I am using my Xacto blade. If you are using one, don't forget to put down your cutting mat or a thick piece of cardboard so you dont damage your desk! 

Now, following your traced lines, cut out your shark. Ignore the teeth for now and cut around them so that your shark has a 'Pac Man' smile.

Pan Man smile! Don't be afraid to cut all the lines for the flipper of the shark. We want the flipper to be movable. Here I added a slight bend to it so that it stands up and gives him more dimension.

Dont forget to cut out the eye! Now he looks evil! For this step, you can use your handheld hole puncher if you'd rather for your shark to have an innocent face. I changed my mind at the start of this tutorial and decided Id give my shark evil eyes instead of a simple circular one. Its up to you! 

We're almost done. Up next are those teeth!

You didn't throw away your tracing paper did you? You need it one last time for his teeth. Do the same thing you did when you transferred your shark over to your cardstock. But this time you only need to worry about his teeth. Transfer the area around his teeth onto some white paper or white cardstock.

The important step here is to leave some extra space around teeth when you cut them out. Pictured here I drew out a little extra area around them ( the dotted line ). I then cut out this entire shape. Dont forget to cut the zig-zag lines inside. Your cut should look like this if you're having trouble understanding:

Cut the zig-zag lines and leave an extra margin around the teeth..

Next take a dab of your glue (make sure your glue dries clear) and get it onto your needle tool or toothpick and carefully apply around the edges of the teeth you cut out. Remember the extra space you left? This is why you need it. 

Now carefully place your teeth BEHIND the body of the shark and position it until it looks right. I recommend using Elmer's glue because its washable if you make a mess, its forgiving and allows you a long time to adjust your paper before it sets, and it dries clear. 

If dont get your shark in the right spot the first time, no problem! Shift the teeth around until its just right and press down, then let it dry (a few minutes). 

The back of your shark will look like this....

But if you flip it over..

Pretty cool!

I hope you guys had fun, these are a joy to make. I will try to post one of these every week. If there's an animal or object in particular you would like to see, leave a comment. If you have any questions just leave a comment and Ill get back to you.

Here is the template for you guys to print:

For more cute cut-outs for your projects have a look through my shop on Etsy: Snip Snip on Etsy