Patricia Zapata's Paper Perfection

I met Patricia Zapata one year ago at Maker Faire Austin, where she was demoing her diorama project from Craft 07. I'd followed her work for a while, and her pristine aesthetic appealed to my need for clean, simple crafting. I tend to be ... messy and a bit chaotic. Patricia's gorgeous, clean, modern paper projects were soothing and special.

When we met, we instantly connected over talk of juggling work with kids and mundane tasks of parenting life like laundry, oh ... the never-ending laundry. As Patricia explained it, her paper crafting and blog are sacred. They are her space to have a bit of calm and beauty in the midst of the often chaotic surrounds of family life.


I loved this about Patricia, and I think it's something that everyone needs - not just moms. Crafting, creating, writing - these things can provide the comfortable, inspirational reservoirs we all need.

I also remember Patricia talking about her summer that year, and how it was packed with fun family time and lots of work on her book. I've been waiting to see it ever since, and when I received my copy last month, I felt that same sense of peace and inspiration that Patricia's blog has always provided.


Home, Paper, Scissors is Patricia's first book, and has dozens of home decor paper projects ranging from quick and easy cupcake toppers to gorgeous wall clocks. There are projects for every room in your house, and the possibilities of working paper into you decor will surprise you. (a paper table runner!? how cool is that?)

One of my favorite things about Patricia is how she can find insanely creative ways to reuse materials that otherwise might just get tossed into the trash can. She's a master of the cardboard paper towel tube. I've seen her print with them, make gift tags out of them, and was happy to see they make an appearance or two in Home, Paper Scissors as well.


She also includes her famous magazine bowls that she presented at Maker Faire Austin 2007 (when I was too shy to introduce myself).

I also love that there are opportunities to take up some of the projects with your kids. She's posted some positively brilliant projects that she's done with her kids on her blog, and several of the projects in Home, Paper, Scissors are kid-friendly as well.

Patricia's skilled designer's eye and talent for creating 3-dimensional projects out of paper make Home, Paper, Scissors a book well worth adding to your craft collection. Enjoy!