On rainy days when playing outdoors wasn't practical, children turned to crafts such as scrapbooking. Mothers provided a scrapbook, a pot of paste and blunt scissors. She would buy sheets of colorful pictures or scrap-pictures for such days. Nursery age children could make a large scrapbook using brown linen sheets about 3-by-4 feet with braid bound around the edges. These large sheets were folded in half and each successive sheet placed within the other to make a fabric book. The children's names and the date would then be pasted on the cover with red braid or wool. A container full of colored fabric, newspaper or other pictures was kept on hand for the children to paste into their books.
Paper dolls, usually made of cardboard, were first created in Paris in the 1700s as an affordable toy for children. Colorful, paper costumes were put on the doll and secured with tabs that folded back. Little girls could also learn how to make paper dolls and costumes. There were instruction books for children, including, "Paper Dolls and How to Make Them, A Book for Little Girls," by Anson D. F. Randolph published in 1856 in America, that became popular. Costumes were drawn, colored and cut out by the child to put on the doll.
Paper flowers were very popular in Victorian homes as decorations. Victorian children and ladies could make all manner of beautiful floral designs using colored paper; some were simple designs and some very complex. Materials for flowers included colored paper, glue, scissors, wire and green crepe paper. A sheet of paper was folded four times and petal, heart or leaf shapes would be drawn and cut out and then pinched together at the base and fanned out at the top to make a flower. Once enough petals were added, the base would be secured by wrapping wire around it. Crepe paper could be used to wrap around the wire stem and green paper used to make the leaves.
Drawing, coloring and painting were popular crafts for children. Christmas cards could be hand made using thick, colored paper, decorative ribbons and pictures cut out and pasted on the front or drawn or painted directly onto the card.