Papercraft challenge 2: summer picnic

As part of our PIXMA Papercraft Challenge, we tasked crafters and families to create beautiful papercrafts for occasions throughout the year.

This time it's the turn of illustrator Emma Howcutt-Kelly, her wife Clare and their young son. The family's mission? To use a PIXMA printer and templates from Canon's Creative Park to craft games, decor and props for a summer picnic.

Whether you're in your garden or a local park, a picnic is a great way to make the most of the longer summer days. And with everything from pretty menus to colourful flag picks to choose from, plus hundreds more summery designs, Canon's Creative Park can help make your experience truly unique.

Creating your own summer decorations is also an affordable way of making a day outside more exciting for your little ones, as well as adding a crafty element for them to enjoy. Unlike plastic, which so many children's decorations and toys are made out of, you can recycle your paper creations afterwards – or keep them for future events.

• Creative Park app (or website)
• Canon PIXMA printer, such as the PIXMA TS5350a Series
• Canon Matte Photo Paper
• Scissors
• Ruler (to score the folds)
• Glue stick, glue gun, glue dots
• Toothpicks and straws

Clare enjoyed the range of templates on Creative Park and described it as well organised and easy to find what you're looking for. "I spent a few hours happily scrolling through all the projects," she says.

After browsing the Creative Park website, Emma and Clare decided to kickstart their challenge with the camera box, crown, ice cream and paper plane templates – but there are hundreds more to choose from if those aren't quite right for your own gathering. Are your little ones interested in dinosaurs or fidget toys, for example? Then why not make an exciting themed picnic?

Creative Park will also give you an indication of how long a template might take to make, so you can plan your papercraft session and ensure smaller children won't get bored.

"We chose items that would make the picnic setup look really pretty and unique," says Clare of their selections.

When you've chosen your templates you can print directly from your smartphone using the Creative Park website or app and a Canon printer such as the PIXMA TS5350a Series.

Once your templates are printed, it's time to start cutting out – you can use a craft knife and cutting board for more complex designs or a pair of scissors.

Remember to score the lines with a ruler before folding and glueing as this will give your finished templates a better shape. Emma says this was the trickiest part of making the decorations. "You need to do that before you construct the items as the recommended paper is quite thick," she says. "Once you've done that, it's easier to stick it all together."

It's also a good idea to make your crafts a day before you leave for your picnic so the glue has had time to dry.

Once you have all your summer decor ready, it's time to prepare your picnic, whether you're laying a blanket out in the backyard or visiting the nearest park. You could even have an indoor picnic if the weather isn't suitable or you don't have access to a garden – simply set up your blanket on the floor of your living room and bring the sunshine in by playing your favourite summer songs.

Emma and Clare found a range of picnic-themed photo booth props on Creative Park to add some extra fun to the occasion. You can also find photo booth props for birthday parties, sports, Halloween or Christmas.

The family also made a bingo game to pass the time when out in the sunshine. You could also try and make something a bit more complex, without a template, such as a papercraft kite.