Orange Cardstock Paper Guide

Orange is a warm color that brings to mind festive times–Halloween, Thanksgiving, and, of course, autumn, the favorite season of 27% of Americans. It’s a time of renewal represented by a vibrant, energetic color.

Orange is often used to draw attention, and the color is intricately associated with autumn thanks to the orange hues seen in dying leaves and pumpkins. This also makes orange cardstock the perfect choice for autumn crafts, whether you’re getting your spook on for Halloween, settling in for a hearty meal on Thanksgiving, or just looking to celebrate your favorite season.

Here’s everything you need to know about choosing the perfect orange cardstock, and ideas for seasonal crafts the whole family will enjoy.

Choosing The Right Shade Of Orange

Before you break out your scissors, glue, and imagination, it helps to know what shade of orange you’re looking for.

There’s a whole spectrum of different shades of orange ranging from papaya to tangerine to butterscotch to saffron to vermillion, each as lovely and lively as the last. But the hues you might want for fall crafts might be slightly different than the hues you would reach for during family Thanksgiving art projects. There’s no wrong shade, but there is a shade that’s just right.

Here’s a look at our three beautiful shades of orange cardstock.

Orange Our basic shade of orange is a bright, happy color that will brighten anyone’s day. It’s more of a yellowish orange that calls to mind the fruits from which it gets its name. If you’ve seen fresh orange peel lately, you’ll almost swear you can smell the citrus coming off the paper. It’s roughly halfway between pure orange (i.e. the even combination of pure red and pure yellow) and amber (a pure chroma golden color seen in nature when tree sap freezes bugs in time). This shade is a bit light for pumpkins, but it’s the perfect choice for a bright spray of paper fall leaves or a turkey’s lighter orange feathers.

Cosmic Orange Our second shade of orange, Cosmic Orange, is a deeper, brighter hue than our regular Orange. It’s a bit more saturated, a bit more red, closer to the hue of the perfect pumpkin freshly arrived from the pumpkin patch to turn into a jack o’lantern. If you’re looking for a craft that involves pumpkins, look no further than our Cosmic Orange. It’s also the perfect shade of Halloween orange to juxtapose with black and call to mind the chilly, spooky occasion of October 31.

Orbit Orange Last but not least is Orbit Orange, the reddest of our three shades of orange. Compared to Cosmic Orange, it’s a highly saturated color with the slightest flavor of coral, a rich shade of tangelo orange. The name calls to mind the fiery hues of the galaxy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring it down to earth with autumn crafts. In fact, it’s the perfect burst of color to add depth and richness to your yellower shades of orange. It will liven any craft with a burst of fun, but it can also add character and excitement to an otherwise understated project. You can use it as an accent for lighter oranges, or you can go all in and make it the star of the show if you’re feeling bold. Either way, you’re bound to feel energized and imaginative as soon as you see this orange.

 

Autumn Crafts

Looking for a fun way to celebrate your favorite season? There are all kinds of simple autumn crafts to make, whether you’re collecting the crafts for kids or adults.

Handmade autumn cards are one of the most classic fall crafts out there–and really, what says “happy fall!” better than happy fall greeting cards?

The best autumn greeting cards are the ones that call to mind the best features of the season: autumn trees replete with orange, red, yellow, gold, and brown leaves.

If you’ve got preschool kids (or just kids that don’t have patience) keep it simple. A sheet of orange paper for them to draw a leaf or a tree is a great option, or you can give them cutouts of leaves and pumpkins and let them glue together their own cards.

If you’re looking for a different take on fall’s best feature and you’ve got a party coming up (or even if you just want a reason to celebrate), paper leaf cake toppers are a great craft for kids and adults.

To do this craft, get several different shades of paper, twigs of varying lengths, gold acrylic paint, and a glue gun. Cut out different shaped leaves, one for each color of paper. Using a dry paintbrush, paint brushstrokes of gold in an upward motion (don’t apply too much paint!) Let the leaves dry completely, then gently crinkle the leaves for texture. Use a glue gun to affix them to twigs, and once the glue dries, you’ve got a festive group of autumnal cake toppers.

Halloween Crafts

As one of the year’s most fascinatingly weird holidays, it should come as no surprise that Halloween has a storied history, and our cultural notion of black and orange as the hues of Halloween runs deep.

The holiday is the descendant of an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced “sow-en”) which marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. Because November 1 was the beginning of the Celtic calendar year, the Celts believed this new year’s eve was a time when the spirits of the departed returned. Orange and black reflected this duality of warmth and cold, light and dark: orange representing the life seen in the harvest, black representing death and darkness.

Halloween arts and crafts today reflect this duality in the balance of orange and black, which means classic Halloween decorations usually include both colors. If you’re looking for DIY Halloween crafts for kids, the easiest craft for preschoolers is cutout pumpkins, the perfect way for youngsters to craft their dream jack o’ lantern. Halloween greeting cards are another great way to get in the spooky spirit. For young kids, the easiest option is to have them glue their paper pumpkins to a card–or turn their paper pumpkin into a card on its own!

And if you’re looking for more complex Halloween art projects, why not try your hand at Halloween origami? You can make an easy origami pumpkin (best complemented with origami bats) or you can make these cute and easy paper pumpkins.

Thanksgiving Crafts

Last but not least are Thanksgiving crafts. Whether you’re making Thanksgiving cards or DIY Thanksgiving decorations, Thanksgiving arts and crafts are the perfect way to show your gratitude for the bounties of the year.

These turkey placeholders are one of the easiest Thanksgiving crafts for kids (and they double as cute Thanksgiving table decor). To do them, get large clothespins, a collection of orange paper, some glue, scissors, and googly eyes.

Cut your orange paper into the shape of various leaves–two different sized maple leaves work well. These will become your turkey’s tail feathers. You can also cut the paper into other shapes and arrange them. The clothespin will hold the tail feathers together.

For a simple craft to spread the thankful spirit, you can also turn to Thanksgiving cards. The easiest route for kids is a simple turkey card–two circles of brown paper for the turkey’s body and head, oval pieces of paper in various shades for the tail feathers, and a bit more orange paper for the feet and beak. Don’t forget a sweet message inside!

Looking for Orange Cardstock?

Whatever your occasion, there’s a shade of orange cardstock that’s perfect for your project. Our job is to inspire you, which is why we’re proud to provide beautiful orange cardstock as the perfect addition to your next craft. Click here to check out our selection of orange cardstock today!

ORANGE	COSMIC ORANGE	ORBIT ORANGE