The Ministry of Confusion

Construction

1. Score grooves around the ends of the sticks a little (5mm or ¼") from each end. Cut into the ends, down as far as the groove, making sure the cuts run in the same direction.
2. Lay the shorter stick across the longer stick at a right angle about a quarter of it's length from the top. Mark around the joint, halfway between the joint and the top of the longer stick (Q), and two thirds of the way from the joint to the bottom of the frame (R) with a pen. Score shallow grooves into the wood around the pen marks.
3. Replace the shorter stick across the longer as before and bind the two sticks tightly together with string, going around them in a A → D → B → C → A pattern. Make sure the cuts across the ends of the sticks each point towards the next rather than upwards; Z ← W → X, W ← X → Y, etc.
4. Tie the string tightly around the end of one of the sticks, and run the string from end to end (eg W → X → Y → Z → W), making a complete circuit and running the string through the cuts and (inside that) around the groves at the ends. The string should be taught, and the sticks should still lie across each other at right angles when this is finished.
5. If you're going to decorate your paper kite "face", do it now before you fit it to the kite.
6. Take the paper and lie it under the frame (decorated face down). Trace around the outside of the string, and then trace around the outside of that outline about 15mm (5/8") further out.
7. Cut along the outer outline and fold it back over the string. You will need to cut slots back as far as the inner outline to fold it around the ends of the sticks. Tape the paper down. The kite will fly paper towards the ground, frame and tape towards the sky.
8. Find the groves halfway between the top and cross joint of the frame (Q), and two thirds of the way from the cross joint to the bottom of the frame (R). Place tape on the paper underneath these grooves, and punch a small hole.