Contributed by Info Guru Aurora LaJambre

Some of the most common household supplies are also the most versatile craft materials.

Cool paper crafts can turn a dreary afternoon into a time of silly giggles or intense concentration, depending on the project.

This list of top ten covers projects for boys and girls, as well as a few for adults looking for a creative outlet.

10. Paper Dolls

Paper dolls are a creative project to do with girls of almost any age. Draw on a piece of stiff cardboard and cut out the shape of a girl. Lightly trace the girl on several pieces of construction paper. Draw clothes to fit the doll shapes, and be sure to add fold-over tabs on the tops and sides so the clothes stay on the doll.

9. Handprint Bouquet

Cool paper crafts can be more than just decorations. A handprint bouquet is a fun activity for boys or girls to do before Mother’s Day. The stem should be green, but the crafter can choose any color they want for the flower bud. Simply trace a handprint and curl the fingertips back as petals. Wrap the palm part of the print around a green pipe cleaner for the stem.

8. Marionettes

Teach kids how to make a marionette one day, and enjoy their puppet show the next. Have them start by making a large drawing of a character, like a pirate or ballerina. Follow this marionette tutorial to make the puppets move.

7. Mini Top Hat

Make a miniature top hat and practice your best impersonation of a mini Abraham Lincoln or a magician. If it’s St. Patrick’s Day, use green instead of black to create a leprechaun’s hat. You’ll need construction sheets and half of a toilet paper tube. Just cut out two circles about 2 inches larger than the tube. Trace around the tube onto the paper. On one circle, cut out a small hole in the center of the circle, then make small slits from the hole to the trace marks. Fold up the tabs and tape or glue inside of the tube. On the second circle, cut slits from the outside to the trace marks and fold the tabs down. Tape or glue to the top of the tube. Now wrap the tube with the same color paper.

6. Snowflakes

Kids love to decorate the house for winter with cool paper crafts. Snowflakes are festive, fun and fitting for any holiday you celebrate. Make them with different colors and embellish them with glitter. You can hang them from strings at various levels, attach them to the walls or sting them like garland. Check out this simple snowflake how-to, and fill your home with whimsy.

5. Scrapbook Pull Card Tabs

Scrapbook pull-out cards are a sneaky scrapbook creation. They allow you to fill the pages with way more than meets the eye. All you need is a piece of card stock small enough to conceal behind a photo, and a pull tab disguised as an embellishment. Make a picture or journaling block that fits the page’s theme and cut it out with a small rectangular extension on one side. Attach to the card stock. Attach a small embellishment to the tab. Secure the photo to the page on the sides and bottom only. Complete your pull-out message or image, and tuck it in behind the photo.

4. Chain Snake

Kids can make their favorite creepy crawlers with a classic paper chain. Cut two pieces of paper into even strips lengthwise and about an inch wide. Glue the first strip into a ring, and loop each successive strip through the last loop. Draw a funny or scary face and paste it to one end.

3. Hole Punch Mosaic

If you have basic art supplies, like a stack of construction paper, you’re in luck. Use a hole punch or scissors to cut different shapes from different colors, keeping them in separate piles. Make a simple drawing on another piece of paper and use the dots to paint a picture. Smear a glue stick over small sections at a time to keep the mess to a minimum. Encourage young kids to make something simple like a rainbow or flower.

2. Kites

Say it’s a perfectly breezy day for kite flying only you don’t have a kite. All you need to make one yourself is an 8 ½” by 11” sheet and some early learning art supplies. Follow this tutorial and you’ll be running with the wind in no time.

1. Origami

Origami is one of the coolest paper crafts because you can make just about anything from a few scraps of paper. It’s an engaging activity for boys and girls of any age because the degree of difficulty ranges from super simple to ultra challenging. Browse origami books and get folding. Try something simple like a tree, and work up to an elephant, bird or dinosaur to create your own fantasy zoo.