Color Your Own: Make It Yours

A little sculpture. A lot of possibility.

There’s something lovely about a white paper sculpture. Light catches its folds, shadows bring out its shape, and it feels complete just as it is.

But we also know how much the personal touches matter. The orange stripes of your cat. Your favorite blue. A tiny painted sweater that makes you smile every time you walk past.

We can’t turn every pattern and color combination into a kit. With Color Your Own, you can create the version that’s missing. We provide the shape. You bring the personality.

Pick your tools. Find your texture.

You don’t need a whole art studio to begin. Acrylic paint markers, crayons, colored pencils, and water-based felt-tip pens offer different ways to make the white surface your own. Start with a tool you enjoy using and a few colors that look good together.

Four paper color swatches beside an acrylic marker, crayon, colored pencil and felt-tip pen. — Solid color, grainy strokes, fine lines, or flowing marks—each tool brings a different character.

Acrylic paint markers: try bold blocks of color or give individual facets their own shade.
Crayons: let the soft, grainy marks become part of the design.
Colored pencils: build up light strokes for stripes, fur-inspired patterns, and little details.
Water-based felt-tip pens: draw directly onto the paper for lines, dots, and colorful patterns, without adding water.

Try your chosen tool on a spare piece of the same kit paper first. Check the color and how it feels with a light touch before moving onto your sculpture. Coloring tools are not included in the kit.

Start with something you love.

A familiar face

Look at a photo of your pet. Which details make them unmistakably them? An orange tail, dark ears, a white chest, or that little patch you know so well?

Choose a few of those details and bring them onto your model. You don’t need to draw every hair. A handful of familiar colors and markings can make a paper animal feel wonderfully personal.

Two geometric cat models with orange tabby and cream-and-brown Siamese-inspired coloring. — A few familiar markings can turn the same shape into two very different characters.

A new outfit—or a whole new personality

Give your animal a striped shirt, a polka-dot sweater, or a colorful outfit you wish you owned. Paint the clothes straight onto the paper and let the folds give them shape.

Or follow your imagination somewhere else: a rainbow of facets, flowers, tiny doodles, or a different pattern on every panel. There’s no need to fill every space. White areas can be part of your design too.

Two paper French bulldogs, one painted with a striped outfit and the other covered in colorful patterns. — Paint an outfit, mix your favorite patterns, or invent a character of your own.

Build first. Then bring on the color.

Assemble your model before you color it, and let the glue dry fully. Follow your glue’s drying instructions. With the finished shape in front of you, you can see how your design travels across its sides and around each fold.

If you’re still building, our papercraft assembly guide walks you through the basics.

Start with a small area and use light strokes. Add color gradually, allowing marker or paint layers to dry before touching them or adding more. For paint markers that need priming, prepare the tip on spare paper rather than pressing it into your model.

A hand lightly supports an assembled paper dog on a table while another adds a blue stripe with a pen. — Let the table support the model. Keep your holding hand relaxed and your coloring touch light.

Hold gently—your sculpture is hollow paper. The hand keeping it steady should support it without squeezing. Avoid gripping the ears, tail, or legs, and turn the model carefully to reach another area instead of tightening your hold.

You can pause whenever you like. A few stripes today, a little detail tomorrow. The marks you make by hand are part of what makes this version yours.

A place for your one-of-a-kind piece.

Once the color is dry, find a spot where you’ll enjoy seeing it. A little dog on your desk. A cat bringing personality to a wall. A handmade gift in someone’s favorite colors.