• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Doily Art Ideas

Three paper doily projects at a time, each with how many doilies it takes.

Doily Art Ideas

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  1. A birthday cake card with lace icing on each tierDoilies, 1, its edge cut into strips. Paint a strip and press it along the top of each drawn tier.
  2. A window snowflake with extra notches cut into the laceDoilies, 1. Fold it in half three times, snip small notches along the folds, open it out.
  3. A clock face with hands that turnDoilies, 1. Write the hours round the lace edge; two card hands turn on a paper fastener.

Next step Snowflakes to drawBirthday drawings for a card

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Stenciled with a sponge 12

  • A drawn figure in a skirt of stenciled lace Doilies, 1, cut in half. Sponge the half round as the skirt and draw the rest of the figure.
  • A fish whose scales are the lace Doilies, 1. Cut a fish-shaped hole in scrap paper, lay it over the doily and sponge through both.
  • A jellyfish with a lace dome and brushed tentacles Doilies, 1, folded in half. Sponge the half round, then pull the tentacles down with a brush.
  • A lace border round a poem or a name Doilies, 1. Cover the middle with a sheet of paper and sponge only the edge that peeks out.
  • A lace sun rising behind torn-paper hills Doilies, 1. Sponge the round in orange and glue torn green hills over its lower edge.
  • A lace tablecloth under a drawn tea set Doilies, 1. Sponge the lace across the lower half; draw the cups and a pot on top when it is dry.
  • A night sky of lace moons in white on dark blue paper Doilies, 1. Hold it flat, dab straight down with an almost dry sponge, lift, move along, repeat.
  • A peacock whose tail is one big fan of lace Doilies, 1 large. Sponge it in teal above a small painted body and add eye spots with a fingertip.
  • A second, softer lace from the wet doily itself Doilies, 1. After sponging, flip the wet doily onto clean paper and rub its back.
  • One lace round in two colors, turned between them Doilies, 1. Sponge it in yellow, turn it a little, sponge again in red: the lace doubles.
  • Three lace hot-air balloons with drawn baskets Doilies, 1 small. Sponge three rounds in different colors and pen the ropes and baskets under them.
  • Wrapping paper covered in overlapping lace rounds Doilies, 1. Brown paper and white paint; let the rounds overlap and run off the sheet.

Snowflakes and flowers 12

  • A dahlia of three stacked doilies, each turned a little Doilies, 3. Tint each with watery paint, stack them big to small and twist each one off line.
  • A daisy chain of small doilies with yellow centers Doilies, 4 small. Glue a yellow paper circle on each and join them with a looping green pen stem.
  • A posy cone of paper flowers Doilies, 1. Roll it into a cone round the stems and tape the overlap, as doilies once bound posies.
  • A rose rolled from a doily cut into a spiral Doilies, 1. Cut a spiral in toward the center, roll it up from the outer end and glue the base.
  • A snowflake garland strung across a window Doilies, 6 small. Fold each over the string and glue the two halves together, a hand apart.
  • A snowflake mobile hung from a twig Doilies, 5. Tie a thread through one hole of each and hang them at different lengths.
  • A snowman of three doilies in three sizes Doilies, 3. Glue them overlapping on blue paper, largest at the base; add a paper hat and twig arms.
  • A snowy pine of half doilies stacked wide to narrow Doilies, 2, cut in half. Overlap the halves like skirts, trimming each one narrower going up.
  • A sunflower with a center of brown fingerprints Doilies, 1. Paint the lace edge yellow and press brown fingerprints across the solid middle.
  • A water lily on a painted pond Doilies, 2. One lies flat, tinted green, as the pad; one is pinched up at its center as the flower.
  • A window snowflake with extra notches cut into the lace Doilies, 1. Fold it in half three times, snip small notches along the folds, open it out.
  • Frost on the panes of a black card window Doilies, 1. Glue it behind a black card window frame so the lace reads as frost on the glass.

Printed on cards 12

  • A birthday cake card with lace icing on each tier Doilies, 1, its edge cut into strips. Paint a strip and press it along the top of each drawn tier.
  • A bold lace print pulled with a roller Doilies, 1. Roll paint over the doily on scrap paper, turn it onto the card and rub the back.
  • A card with two linked lace rings Doilies, 1. Print it once in silver, shift it sideways and print again so that the rings overlap.
  • A crayon rubbing of lace across a card front Doilies, 1. Lay thin paper over the doily and rub with the side of a peeled crayon.
  • A folded card with a heart-shaped lace window Doilies, 1. Cut a heart out of the card front and glue the doily behind the hole.
  • A parasol card with a drawn handle Doilies, 1. Print half the round at the top of the card; one hooked pen line is the handle.
  • A place card with lace standing above the fold Doilies, 1, cut in four. Glue a quarter inside the fold so its scallops stand above the name.
  • A set of gift tags stamped with the doily center Doilies, 1. Paint the middle ring only and press the tags onto it one at a time.
  • A snow globe card with a white lace flake inside Doilies, 1 small. Print it white on blue card, then draw the globe round it and a base below.
  • A thank-you card with one corner of lace in gold Doilies, 1. Brush gold paint on a quarter of the doily and press that quarter onto the corner.
  • A wax-resist card where the lace appears under paint Doilies, 1. Rub white crayon over paper laid on the doily, then brush watery paint across.
  • An envelope lined with printed lace Doilies, 1. Print onto thin paper, trim that to the shape of the flap and glue it inside.

Collage 12

  • A clock face with hands that turn Doilies, 1. Write the hours round the lace edge; two card hands turn on a paper fastener.
  • A cupcake with lace icing and a striped paper case Doilies, 1, cut in half. The half round sits on a striped paper case, with a red dot cherry on top.
  • A dancer whose skirt is a pleated doily Doilies, 1. Fan-fold a half round and glue only the waist, so the pleats stand off the page.
  • A dragonfly with four lace wings Doilies, 1, cut in four. Trim each quarter to a long wing; a twig or a pipe cleaner is the body.
  • A gold crown cut from the scalloped edge Doilies, 1. Cut the edge off as one strip, paint it gold and glue it round a card band.
  • A lion whose mane is a doily painted orange Doilies, 1. Paint it, glue a yellow paper face over the middle and draw the whiskers.
  • A sheep with a doily fleece and stick legs Doilies, 1 small. Glue it on green paper; draw a black face over one side and four legs below.
  • A snail with a shell tinted ring by ring Doilies, 1. Paint each ring of the lace a different color from the center out; add a paper body.
  • A spider web with a paper spider on a thread Doilies, 1. Glue it to black paper as the web and hang the spider from its edge.
  • A swan with a folded doily wing Doilies, 1. Fold it in half twice for the wing and glue it to a white paper body with an S neck.
  • An owl with two small doilies as eye rings Doilies, 2 small. Glue them on a brown paper body, a dark circle in each, a folded beak between.
  • Lace clouds over torn-paper hills Doilies, 1, torn into pieces. The scraps overlap as clouds above hills torn from green paper.

Painted on wood 12

  • A dark box lid with a gold lace medallion Doilies, 1. Paint the lid dark and let it dry, then dab gold through the doily.
  • A dark wood slice ornament with a lace snowflake Doilies, 1 small. Dab white on a dark-stained slice; the center of the lace is enough.
  • A drawer front with a band of lace across it Doilies, 1. Take the handle off first and repeat the round from edge to edge.
  • A plank sign with lace corners round a lettered word Doilies, 1. Dab a quarter of it into each corner of the board and letter the word between.
  • A shelf back with a row of lace half rounds Doilies, 1. Dab only the top half and move along; the scallops hang in a row like a pelmet.
  • A stool top with a lace mat that never slips Doilies, 1 large. Center it on the seat; the painted lace reads as a mat left on the stool.
  • A wood slice with one lace round dabbed on in white Doilies, 1 small. Tape it to the slice, dab white through it with a sponge and peel straight up.
  • A wooden heart with lace running off one side Doilies, 1. Let half the doily hang over the edge so the wood cuts the round in two.
  • A wooden letter covered edge to edge in lace Doilies, 1. Drape the doily over the letter, dab, move it and dab again until no wood is plain.
  • A wooden picture frame with lace along two sides Doilies, 1. Lay the edge of the doily over the frame, dab, shift it along and dab again.
  • A wooden tray with two lace rounds overlapping on its base Doilies, 2. Dab one in cream and one in gray so that they cross at the middle of the tray.
  • Wooden blocks that rebuild the lace when set together Doilies, 1. Push the blocks into a square, dab through the doily across all of them, pull apart.

How it works

A paper doily is a sheet of holes, so it works three ways. Paint dabbed through it leaves lace, paint brushed onto it prints lace, and the doily glues down as lace. These doily art project ideas use all three.

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Wood painting ideas with doilies

Tape the doily flat to a wood slice, a tray or a box lid. Sponge paint through the holes, then peel the doily straight up while the paint is wet. White on dark-stained wood shows every hole.

One doily, used three times

Stencil with it first. Flip the wet doily onto a card and rub its back for a softer second print. When it has dried, the tinted doily goes into a collage as a mane, a shell or a fleece.

  • Too much paint creeps under the paper and fills the lace in. Blot the sponge until it leaves a faint mark.
  • Dab, never wipe. A wiping stroke catches the lace and tears it.
  • A small doily fits a card front. A large one fills a stool top or a tray.

Questions and answers

What can you make with paper doilies?

Stenciled lace on paper or wood, printed cards, cut snowflakes and layered flowers, and collage animals such as a sheep, an owl or a lion with a doily mane. The list has 60 projects in five groups of 12.

What is a doily?

An ornamental mat of paper or fabric, marked by openwork: holes that let the surface underneath show through. Paper ones were made as a cheaper stand-in for crocheted linen. Every project here uses the paper kind.

How do you make a snowflake from a paper doily?

Fold the doily in half three times, snip small notches along both folded edges and open it out. The lace is already cut, so a few snips are enough.

How do you print with a doily?

Brush or roll a thin coat of paint over the doily on scrap paper, turn it paint side down on the card and rub the back with a flat hand. Lift it by one edge. A second press without new paint comes out paler.

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