Paper palm trees surrounding the paper hacienda give it a realistic touch.
You can make small scale haciendas by cutting and folding sturdy sheets of paper. Haciendas are large Mexican estates that are often set on large plots of land and include several buildings. Many haciendas have orange clay tile roofs, a central courtyard and multiple adobe, brick or stucco archways. Copy each detail of a real existing hacienda or create a custom design you have imagined. Create a three-dimensional visual aid for a presentation or project by making realistic-looking paper hacienda models.
Instructions
1. Visit Maps of Mexico and HaciendasMexico to view pictures of many real haciendas to decide how the paper haciendas are going to look (see Resources).
2. Look for papercraft templates of buildings that have similar architectural elements to the real haciendas (see Resources).
3. Print the building templates you select onto card stock or matte photo paper using the lowest quality settings on the printer. Only the outline of the printed template is important as the buildings will be folded inside out and the printed areas will be hidden in the final hacienda.
4. Cut out the individual buildings carefully using a pair of scissors. Do not cut off the tabs on the sides of the walls and roofs of the paper buildings. Place the paper on a cutting board and use a razor blade knife to cut out openings like windows, doors and archways.
5. Press the blade into the lines on the template where the paper will be folded to form a corner to make a quarter inch-long incision every half inch. Crease along the perforated lines using a ruler to get straight folds.
6. Flip the building cutout over to its blank side and use pens and markers to make it look like the hacienda(s) that inspired the design. Concaved roof tiles, exposed brick and a few damaged spots give the hacienda buildings an authentic look.
7. Follow the directions from the template you are using to fold the tabs and glue them into position so the sides you decorated are facing out. Apply glue with a scrap of paper so you are only using a thin layer on one of the two connecting surfaces. Hold the glued surfaces together for 10 seconds before leaving the haciendas to dry completely according to the manufacturer's directions on the adhesive container.
8. Arrange a few of the three-dimensional paper hacienda buildings on a piece of green or beige poster board to create the look of a palatial estate. Align three building in a semicircle to form a courtyard and extend roofs with extra pieces of card stock to make shady verandas.
Tags: paper hacienda, card stock, hacienda buildings, real haciendas, will folded
