There are lots of fun things you can do with a simple 1” circle paper punch, let me show you some I’ve tried recently.

circle paper punch surrounded with colourful paper circles

I used old colourful envelopes for all these circle punch creative ideas, they are a great source of coloured paper which is a good thickness for using with paper punches.

pile of colourful old envelopes to use for paper crafts

10 creative ideas to use a 1” circle punch

Make a Bookworm Bookmark

To make a simple bookworm bookmark you’ll need:

strip of card about 5.5cm x 19.5cm (just over 2” x 7 1/2”)
punched 1” circles
paper glue
black fine liner pen
regular Hole Punch
yarn - about 34cm (14”) is about right

step by step photos to make a bookworm bookmark from punched circles

Glue the circles along the strip of card in a wiggly line overlapping them. Add a face, antenna and legs with the black pen. Punch a hole at the bottom and attach the yarn.

Make a crescent moon

Got a little picture that needs a crescent moon to finish it off nicely? Make one easily with a circle punch:

Take a yellow punched circle and place it back into your circle punch to remove a section. If you turn the punch over it’s easy to see how much of the original circle you are removing.

Make little paper apples

Make cute paper apples with your circle punch. These would be fun for a teacher thank you card or bookmark, a recipe card or some sort of autumn themed craft. All you need is red paper and green paper and a brown pen.

step by step tutorial to make a little paper apple using a 1" circle paper punch

Use the circle punch to remove a little slither at opposite sides of a punched circle. If you like you can remove a little more at the top than the bottom as I have here.

Glue down your apple shape, add a stem with the brown pen. use the offcuts from a green apple as leaves.

Mini paper Doughnuts (or Donuts if you prefer!)

To make cute little paper doughnuts you’ll need:

punched 1” circles of paper
regular hole punch
black fineliner pen
colouring pens

step by step photos to make mini paper doughnuts

Punch a hole in the centre of each circle using your regular hole punch. Use a fine liner to draw a wavy line around the punched hole and the circle. Colour and decorate your doughnuts and icing with the colouring pens.

I think these would be fun on a birthday card, maybe something with a pun - “50! You donut look it”, “I have a hole lotta love for you!”, “It’s your birthday - donuts!” etc.

Make a Paper Garland

To make a mini paper garland you’ll need plenty of 1” punched paper circles, a length of strong sewing thread or fine crochet cotton and paper glue. A piece of scrap paper will be handy too.

Cover a circle with glue and lay it stick side up onto your scrap paper. lay the thread centrally over it. Apply glue to another circle and then stick that on top of the first circle, sandwiching the thread in the middle. Line up carefully and press down firmly. Repeat along the length of the thread leaving a small gap between the circles.

Make the garland any length you want. A long length to decorate a shelf, mirror or dresser maybe. A short length could go between two wooden skewers on a celebration cake.

colourful garland made of small paper circles hanging on a mirror

Make tiny paper envelopes

It is possible to make the cutest teeny tiny 1” envelopes from 4 x 1” punched paper circles, perfect for junk journals, card making or for sending tiny notes.

folding 4 circles to form a mini envelope

Fold each of your 4 circles in half to create a central fold. Apply glue to just one 1/4 of each circle and layer them up, overlapping as shown in the photos above. The last circle tucks in part over one circle and part under the other.

tiny 1" envelopes made from paper circles

Make your envelopes with 4 circles that are all the same colour or use 4 different coloured circles for a completely different look.

Make cute paper birds

You can make the cutest little paper birds with just circles of paper, a fine liner pen and a little paper glue.

step by step tutorial to make paper birds

Fold a circle in half, apply glue to one half and stick down. Cut another circle in half, then quarters then eighths. Use one of these eighths as a tail for your bird and one as a wing. Use a fine liner pen to add details like a tiny triangle beak, dot for an eye and legs.

You can position your paper bird at different angles and have fun drawing details on the wing and/or tail.

These birds would be so cute on a greeting card for almost any occasion. 2 birds together with hearts for wings would be so sweet for an engagement or wedding card.

3 ideas to make paper flowers

Flower 1

For this first flower idea you’ll need 7 circles (5 petals, 1 centre and 1 for leaves) You’ll also need some paper glue and a green pen to draw a stem.

Place the centre circle face down on scrap paper. Apply glue to one small part of a petal circle and glue it to the centre. Repeat for all the other petals, overlapping them.

Glue this down then draw a stem.

Flip your paper circle punch over so you can see what’s happening and cut sections from the green circle to make leaves.

Flower 2

For this flower you’ll need 6 petal circles, 1 green circle for the leaves, a green pen to draw the stem and a small yellow flower centre punch with a regular hole punch.

Add a small amount of glue to the very edge of one petal and stick another petal overlapping slightly. Repeat for all the petals, positioning them to form a circle, tucking the last one under the first. Add the tiny hole punch centre then a stem and leaves made from the green circle using your circle punch as before.

Flower 3

To make a 3d flower you’ll need 4 circles for the petals and 1 green circle for the leaves plus a green pen and paper glue.

Fold all 4 petal circles in half. Glue the first petal vertically, only sticking one half to your paper. Apply glue to the next petal and stick it to the first, lining it up neatly. Continue for all the petals.

Cut a couple of slithers from the green circle to make leaves.