No-Scrap Fish Art

As promised, here is another fish-themed project.  I learned how to make this many years ago while student teaching, but I don't know where the credit belongs. What is unique about it is that there are absolutely no scraps from the finished project.  Every single cut piece ends up on the project. 

Here's the one Trevor made:  

(Recognize the project in the background? It's the Girl Scout Cookie box.)

To make the fish, you'll need two pieces of cardstock or construction paper.  The larger background piece should be blue, as it will be the water.  The smaller piece can be any color. (We used the green scraps from our various LEGO games and decorations.)  We started with a piece approximately 3x5".  You will also need good scissors and craft glue.   

 

Cut a triangle from the right side of the rectangle.  Slide it to the left side of the rectangle.  This will be the head of the fish.  

 

Make one vertical cut to remove the two triangles from the right hand side.

 

Rotate the two small triangles to make the caudal fin.  

 

Poke the scissors through the center of the square and cut out a triangle shape.  This piece will become the dorsal fin and the negative space is the pectoral fin.  

 

Trevor normally cuts with children's safety scissors, but he used my (very sharp) Fiskars microtip scissors for this project.  The rounded tips of children's scissors make it very difficult to poke clean holes to cut out the fin. 

Cut two small, slanted rectangles from the body.  These two pieces will become the pelvic and anal fins. 

 

Cut a small circle from the large triangle.  The negative will make the fish's eye and the positive becomes an air bubble.  

When all the pieces are cut, glue them down.  If you've done this correctly, you should have absolutely no scraps left!