Quilling paper can be a fun and relaxing way to spend a rainy afternoon, or it’s even a great way to teach kids hand-eye coordination. If you’ve ever wanted to give it a try and weren’t sure where to start, this is the tutorial for you!

All you need are a few simple materials and soon you’ll be spending all your time rolling up paper to create custom masterpieces!

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Quilled Paper Snail Supplies:

  1. Colored craft paper
  2. Paper quilling strips (buy pre-cut or cut your own — I’ve included a pattern below for use in a cutting machine)
  3. Scissors or cutting machine (I use a Cricut)
  4. Pencil
  5. Craft glue (this is my favorite, but any glue should work)
  6. Slotted quilling tool (while ideal, you could simply use tweezers to get started if you don’t have a quilling tool)
  7. Marker (optional)

Download the free Paper Snail Printable Template. If you use a Cricut cutting machine, you can use the cut file here.

If you need help learning how to upload your own cut files into Design Space, head to YouTube and watch my video: How To Upload PNG Images Into Design Space. Don’t forget to subscribe!!

Quilled Paper Snail Tutorial

Step 1:

Select colored craft paper for the snail and trace the template patterns on the selected papers. Use scissors to cut out the traced patterns or cut via the Design Space cut file (for Cricut users).

If you are cutting your own quilling strips, you’ll need to do that now as well. Strips are included in the Cricut cut file. To cut by hand, cut rectangular strips that are 1/8″-1/4″ wide and include varying lengths. I did 5″, 6″, and 8″ lengths. Using a craft paper trimmer makes quick work of this process.

Step 2:

Use the slotted quilling tool to coil each strip and then form coil shapes with them. Glue the end of each strip to the coil and hold until set.

You can choose how tight or loose you want your coil shapes. Make as many as needed to fill the snail shell.

For further instruction on how to do paper quilling to get tight or loose shapes, watch this very informative video.

Step 3:

Start to glue the coil shapes onto the round cutout (shell portion) one by one until you completely fill the circle.

Add smaller coils in between larger ones to fill any gaps (if desired).

Step 4:

Glue the two small circles onto the spot where eyes would go. You can draw eyeballs with a marker, or just cut out two smaller circles if desired.

Step 5:

Stick the quilled round piece on the body of the snail. While the glue is drying have fun making another snail!

Tip: If you’d like a sturdier back for the snail, trace around the whole snail onto a piece of cardboard, cut out, and glue as a backing to provide support.

Be sure to share your finished projects with us in the Rock Your Craft – DIY Sharing Group, Craft Cutters – Cricut Learning Community group, or on the Crafts & More by The Mommy Bunch page.

Don’t forget to pin and save for later!

If you liked this fun craft, check out all of our kids crafts!