Ideas for paper cup crafts for adults: from interior decor to practical items.
Paper cups, which are often used for drinking beverages, have a simple shape that allows for a variety of creative arrangements.
They’re popular as toys for children and for fine motor practice, but adults can enjoy crafting with them, too.
In this article, we’ll introduce craft ideas for adults that involve customizing paper cups.
It’s also recommended to decorate small containers or gift wrapping in a festive way and display them as interior decor.
Use this as a reference when trying easy crafts with paper cups you can pick up at 100-yen shops and the like.
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Ideas for paper cup crafts for adults: from interior decor to practical items (1–10)
Potion wrapping
Potion wrapping that peels off with a satisfying pop is the charm here.
Let’s make an easy version using a paper cup! After placing the gift in the paper cup, apply glue around the rim.
Lay a sheet of transparent origami paper or parchment paper over the top and let it dry.
Once dry, cut away the excess in any shape you like—and you’re done! Be sure to leave one spot where it can be pinched with your fingers for easy opening.
You can also decorate the paper cup with stickers or stamps to make it extra cute.
gacha machine
Let’s try making a gacha machine that can hold soft candies.
You’ll need two white paper cups, one clear paper cup, and construction paper.
Cut a square out of the rim of one white paper cup to create the dispensing slot, and make a hole in the side.
Make holes of the same size on the opposite side and on the bottom.
Roll the construction paper into a tube and make holes in it as well.
Cut the other white paper cup in half; attach a tray made from construction paper, then stack it underneath the cup with the holes.
Insert the tube into the holes, and finally stack the clear paper cup—with a hole in its bottom—on top.
You’re done!
Marionette
Let’s try making a marionette you can control with strings.
Besides paper cups, this idea uses toilet paper rolls, straws, ping-pong balls, plastic bottle caps, and wooden chopsticks.
First, make the marionette’s head with a paper cup and the body with a toilet paper roll.
For the arms and legs, thread twine through short pieces of straw, attach ping-pong balls as hands and plastic bottle caps as feet, then fix them to the body.
Cross two wooden chopsticks in an X shape and secure them; hang four strings from the cross, attaching two to the head and the remaining two to the hands.
Marionettes are meant to be played with by manipulating them, but for adults, displaying them as decorations is also recommended.
Paper cup craft ideas for adults: from interior decor to practical items (11–20)
manga
How about making a comic—usually printed on paper—using paper cups? Here’s an idea that uses three paper cups.
By rotating the second and third cups, the images move and you can read it like a comic.
On the first cup, draw the frames; on the second, the comic’s illustrations; and on the third, the background and other elements.
Try using the bottom and the inside of the third cup for your expressions, too.
If you cut off the rim of the cup bottom, place it inside, and then stack the cups, they’ll rotate more smoothly.
It takes time, but it’s a detail-rich idea that’s perfect for adults!
bowl; pot; flowerpot (hachi)
Let’s make a mini-sized pot using a paper cup.
Cut off the rim of the paper cup and punch out the bottom.
Flatten the cup in half, rotate it 90 degrees, and flatten it in half again.
Attach a flattened paper cord to a piece of cardboard cut to the size of the bottom, then glue this to the bottom of the paper cup.
Wrap paper cord around the outside, and pack clay inside.
Attach artificial turf on top, insert an artificial flower, and you’re done.
Make pots in your favorite colors and use them as room decor!
crane game
Here’s a craft idea for enjoying a crane game at home.
Make a small hole in the bottom of a paper cup, then cut the sides into eight equal sections.
Remove every other section so you’re left with four, fold the tips inward, and insert a straw through the hole you made.
To keep the straw from slipping out, cut and flare the end, then tape it in place.
Prepare another paper cup, make a hole in its bottom, and stack it on top—and your crane game is complete! It can lift light items like individually wrapped candies.
Lamp stand
Why not make a lamp stand to your own taste and enjoy a soothing nighttime moment? Sketch any design you like on the side of a paper cup, then use an awl or a drill to punch holes along the lines of your sketch.
Once you’ve traced all the lines with holes, erase the sketch, punch holes on the rim of the cup, and then make matching holes on the opposite side.
Thread a string through the holes to create a handle and tie it, then place a light inside the paper cup to finish.
You can hang it from the ceiling or simply set it down as is—both look beautiful.
Let the soft light filtering through the pierced design soothe you.