How to Make Blueprints for Under $1 – Maker Fun Factory VBS
Good afternoon! I am so excited to share with y’all the cheapest, easiest blueprint-making-method ever! Carrie A. (who is part of our Maker Fun Factory facebook group) made these phenomenal (and huge) blueprints for pennies. They are large and will be a quick, easy way to decorate spaces (think hallways, stairwells, on stage, etc).
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Supplies
Blue fadeless paper (you can use sky blue or royal blue)
White Sharpie (or white chalk marker)
T-Square
Instructions
1. Cut blue paper to desired size. These can really be any size you want. Since the paper is 4 feet tall, I’d aim for 2.5-3 feet wide.
2. Next, use a t-square to make grid lines on the blue paper. You can make them as close together or far apart as you’d like – there’s no right or wrong here! You can use either a white chalk marker or white permanent marker. We used the chalk markers in the past and they do smudge (even when fully dry). If these are going to be somewhere little hands can reach, I would strongly suggest using a white Sharpie so you don’t have smudged ink.
3. Add drawings on top of your grid lines. Check out Carrie’s blueprints for ideas! You could also use this style blueprint to make signs with your church name, station names, etc.
The paper is super cheap per foot and one marker should last for the whole project (and beyond). I love projects like this where you can literally make blueprints for pennies. If you spend $40 on supplies (One 200 foot roll of paper plus one marker) and make each blueprint 3 feet wide, you could make 67 blueprints (at a whopping 3 feet by 4 feet each) for about $.60 each – wowzers! Thanks for sharing the great idea, Carrie!
Update: I’ve now made these using dark blue poster board and metallic sharpies. They turned out great! I sketched out my ideas for our stage and foyer decor. This will not only help the guys understand my concept for decorating, but it also creates more decorations to use!
I am a long-time Vacation Bible School lover. I am THRILLED with the Maker Fun Factory curriculum, especially considering our current culture and the uncertainty our kids often experience with themselves. I’ve served in several capacities throughout the VBS world and am currently our church’s VBS director. It is a joy for me to be able to share VBS ideas and resources with others! Follow the blog to see more of our ideas and planning! Please let me know if there are any specific VBS items or ideas you need help with!
Thanks for this post! I’ve also used ends of soap to mark on the paper. I’m going to use a bright blue table cloth marked with white soap lines for the photo op. Then when the children stand in front of it it’ll look like there was a blue print made for their creation. I’ve used soap ends to mark plastic table cloths many times and they don’t tend to smear and yet when you make a mistake, you can just wipe it off with a damp cloth.
Thanks for sharing! I’ve never heard of using soap ends to write with – what a great idea!
Love this idea! I have been teaching VBS Crafts for more years than I care to share (40) LOL! Awesome Awesome Awesome IDEA! Thanks for sharing!
I learned about soap marking from a class I took on sewing. 🙂
This is a great idea! Last year, for cave quest, we did one hallway with black lights and had lots of glow-in-the dark stuff. It was one of the favorite areas among the kids! I am thinking of doing that again this year and these would be perfect. I will use a marker that will glow in the dark. Thanks for the great idea!
Thanks for your feedback & ideas Ashley!
Thanks for the great ideas! We had a hard time finding white markers that would work on paper but we found the white tracing pencils in the sewing dept work really well and they are cheap!