Inside: 25 creative and clever ways to use craft punches in your projects!
I was always a big fan of making my own embellishments so craft punches were always a part of my essential tools list. In-spite of the fact that they were not easy to get here because they were both heavy and expensive I managed to build quite a collection of different sizes and shapes of punches and I still think they are a vital tool in any crafter's kit.
Because I couldn't have all the craft punches I wanted I had to come up with ideas to create shapes with the ones I did have. So over the years I came up with little tricks to make what I want even if I didn't have the right punch.
WHY CRAFT PUNCHES ARE POPULAR TOOL
Punches are a very popular tool with scrapbookers, card makers and paper crafters because
- You can use them as many times as you want
- They last for a long time, provided you take care of them
- Punches are versatile and offer many design possibilities
- When you use punched shape you can always match the embellishments and shapes to your design
- You can change existing paper, customize it or add details to it
PUNCHES HELP YOU USE YOUR SCRAPS
These tools are a great way to use your paper scraps because most punches can fit even a little piece of paper. So you can maximize your leftover papers and use them to create amazing embellishments, tags and more by using your punches.
Check out the 20 Ideas to Use Your Paper Scraps!
TYPES OF CRAFT PUNCHES
Craft punches come in almost all shapes, sizes and design depending on which company made them. But there are a few main types out there
- BASIC SHAPE PUNCHES: basic shapes in a variety of sizes from circles to squares and triangles to tags.
- DETAILED CRAFT PUNCHES: more elaborate shapes with many fine details like flowers and trees to butterflies and animals.
- BORDER SHAPES: punches designed to make beautiful edges and ribbons.
- CORNER PUNCHES: create even and accurate corners in traditional to detailed designs.
- POWERFUL PUNCHES: cut balsa, foam, foil, cardboard and more with a new generation of punches that can handle heavy-duty materials without ripping or jamming.
HOW TO KEEP YOUR CRAFT PUNCH WORKING FOR LONG
In order to make sure your craft punches keep on cutting accurately for a long time you have to make sure that you:
- Only use them to cut paper unless specified otherwise
- Buy quality punches and not settle for unknown companies that their quality is questionable
- Sharpen your punch every once in awhile
But even if you do all that sometimes punches stop working. You don't have to throw them away! Just download the free printable guide on how to keep your punches in perfect working order and how to fix them if they don't. Click this link or on the image below to get instant access to the free guide.
CRAFT PUNCHES HACKS
Check out all the really fun and cool ideas you can make with punches
But wait...there are more!
- Make a two layer tag
- Make bats out of butterflies
- Punched candy wrappers
- Heart butterflies
- Make clouds
BORDER CRAFT PUNCH IDEAS
Border punches can make more than beautiful borders...
FLOWERS MADE WITH CRAFT PUNCHES
A very popular and time consuming way to make DIY flowers is to use punches
USE A CORNER CRAFT PUNCH FOR THIS
Instead of making nice corners use your corner punches in other fun ways too
CIRCLE CRAFT PUNCHES IDEAS
Turn punched circles into other shapes and use your circle punch to make more than just circles
I hope you'll never look at your punches the same way and try to find new and fun ways to use them!
Leave me a comment sharing your craft punches hacks, ideas and cool new ways to use them.
Save it for later - PIN IT!
Have fun creating!
12 comments on “25 INSANELY CLEVER WAYS TO MAKE PROJECTS WITH CRAFT PUNCHES”
Hi Einat,
I would like to know how you keep you punches sharp. Sometime they get dull and will not cut properly.
The two best ways are punch aluminium foil and/or sanding paper
Thank you so much for your information! I would have never thought of that!
Great ideas. Merci 🤩
I love your ideas! People who have zero imagination (me) are so grateful to those who not only have imagination, but share it (you).
Question please–is there a formula or trick to end up with a circle punched evenly all the way around? Every time I’ve tried to do that I end up with a gap–too small to make one more punch but clearly showing I don’t know what I’m doing.
Thank you!
Mark the center of where you want the circle to be aligned with the edges. Then center the punch according to the mark.
This is great! Thank you.
Wow creativy is on my way with these tips, thank you so much!
My scraps are growing again, so this will get me inventing with my punches. Thank You
What great ideas to use punches and use up scraps at the same time. Thank you.
Great idea, thank you.
Thank you!