Quilling Paper Clouds

Just recently, my kids have started getting into cloud-watching.

It took them a little while to understand what in the world I was talking about.

But now, they can lie in the grass and stare up at the clouds for quite a while.

Even when they’re riding in the car, they’ll look out the window and ask if I can see the dragon, eggplant, bicycle-riding elephant, or whatever it is that they’re seeing in the sky.

All this cloud stuff got me thinking about how I can make them out of paper.

It’s actually really easy!

Today I’m sharing how to make simple quilling paper clouds!

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The process I’m using to make the body of these quilling paper clouds is to form them from paper swirls.

Quilling paper swirls are a handy technique for a lot of projects, but the flowy lines make for perfect fluffy clouds!

The supplies are few.

All you need is a needle tool and some glue. A pair of quilling tweezers would also be helpful.

What makes a cloud really believable is to use a few colors because clouds have variations of shades from the levels of water they hold.

I found the perfect combination of colors by layering white, pale blue, and cadet blue.

To make quilling paper clouds, stack your paper strips in the order you’d like.

I like to mix it up by using more or fewer strips of the three shades.

Then, following the steps in this tutorial, I made a whole bunch of swirls.

Some swirls were rolled with the lighter color on the outside, and some in the other direction.

Remember, the darker color should roll towards the bottom of the cloud, as this is the part of the that is further away from the sun’s light, or would be dark and heavy right before a rain shower.

After you’ve made some swirls, piece them together like a puzzle until you get the cloud shape you want.

Try sticking with just pale shades and to create thin, wispy clouds.

Add more cadet blue or gray for rolling storm clouds.

Even make clouds at sunset!

To make these, use a mixture of bright shades like melon and blush, with pale orchid purple.

Note that the sun is usually going below the clouds at this point in the day, so the orchid will be towards the top of each swirl this time.

I have to admit these quilling paper clouds were one of my favorite projects that I’ve made recently.

I had so much fun seeing what cloud formations developed as I moved the swirls around.

Plus, these are a creative way to practice those tricky swirls.

Let me know what kind of clouds you’re going to make in the comments below!