Showing posts with label roll up to the zoo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roll up to the zoo. Show all posts

26.6.14

Flamingos flock to the Zoo

I haven't rolled up to the zoo for a while, so, time I think for a bit of pink! Bring on the flamingos!



As well as an egg box, you'll need:
ice-cream carton lid
orange pipe cleaner (20cm/8" long)
2 pink feathers
green, yellow and blue paper (or plain paper to paint)
PVA craft glue
glue stick
sticky tape
pink paint (red and white)
craft scissors
nail scissors
small ball of plasticine
black felt tip pen

We had a bit of a pipe cleaner quandary, because (as we found out) flamingos have pink legs - but the pink pipe cleaner didn't look quite right with the pink paint we used, so we opted for orange instead.


1. Cut out an egg cup for the body and push the bottom of the cup up with your thumbs to make it more dome-shaped. Paint pink, plus both sides of part of the egg box lid, for the head and neck (pull off any label - doesn't need to be a big piece)

2. Draw your flamingo's head and neck - sort of like an S shape - wider and straighter where it joins the body (but make sure this bit is no bigger than the height of your egg cup body) and long enough here so there's enough to push through a slot. (See picture below)

3. Make this vertical slot in the middle of one side. Draw a pencil line where you want it - put a ball of plasticine behind, so there's something to push against.
Use the nail scissors to make a hole on the line (keep them closed, press down and twist slightly from side to side). Once you've made the hole cut along the line, making sure it's the right size for the bottom of the neck. Wiggle the scissors in and out of the slot to make it easier to push the neck into place.
Leave out for now though, while you finish the body.


4. Fold the pipe cleaner in half and attach under the egg cup body with sticky tape.

5. Glue on two feathers either side of the body, and draw eyes and a beak with a fine black pen before slotting the head back in.


6. For the watery setting, take some blue paper, draw around the lid, cut out, then press this bit of paper into the edges of the lid top, before cutting along your creased line (see first pic) - this helps get a good fit.

7. For younger makers or if you'd like to simplify your watery scene, glue the blue paper to the lid now and jump to step 11, OR, if you want more detail, leave the blue piece to one side and cut a sandy yellow piece to fit the lid in the same way as you've just done for the blue water. Glue the yellow piece in place on the lid (a glue stick is great for this)

8. About two thirds of the way along your blue piece, cut a wavy line. We drew around this wavy line on some pale blue paper (see second pic -white paper would be great too). Make a few waves if you like, about a cm or so wide. Or you could paint waves on instead.


9. Before sticking the water down, cut a 4cm (11/2in.) strip of green paper, long enough to go around one end of the lid. Draw a pencil line along the strip, about a cm from the bottom edge and fold along the line. Cut a zigzag fringe of grass along the wider top part, up to the fold. It looks good if the grass is uneven and different heights. Add a few yellow rush grass tops if you want, with snips of yellow paper or yellow paint.

10. Make a few snips below the fold, this will make it easier to press the grass around one end of the lid, especially in the corners (pic 4). Glue the grass in place then  glue the water and waves on top. Add a few cut out circles where you want your flamingo to stand, giving a kind of ripple effect. (Or paint them on)

11. Poke a hole through the middle of the ripple circles with the nail scissors (best done by an adult as the plastic is tough). Keep the hole small or your flamingo will wobble.

Bend the pipe cleaner over when you're happy with the leg length and sellotape underneath. Cut the other leg so it's a similar length and fold the very end of the sharp tip over. Strike a flamingo pose!



Many more projects like this in my craft books, 'Make Your Own Zoo' and 'Make Your Own Farm Animals'

22.2.14

Egg box seals that ain't Arf! easy...

The Zoo hasn't made an appearance for a while, but it's on my mind; pinging around in there - more about that in a moment - first though, a new arrival!

Arf!

Sammy the seal, plus food..

It's all about the cut with Sammy - no glue needed - just an egg box, a good pair of scissors, paint and a black felt tip.

Cut out as much of a middle cone as you can, right down to the bottom. I've drawn a circle round the cone in this box so you can see what I mean.



Draw a line half way up one side, then use the cone edges to help you draw the flippers, like this.


Next, angle the line from the flippers gently downwards on the sides of the cone..


..don't make the angle too sharp - and bring the two lines together at the back to form the body and tail.


Cut out your seal. Now, because egg box cardboard is prone to ripping, make a little snip at the top of the flippers at the front - keep these cuts quite small so you don't lose a flipper - then carefully bend the them, and the tail.


Round off the pointy corners left on the flippers after snipping - just helps make your seal look better.


Next, paint and draw a face, like this one, drawn on an unpainted seal so it's nice and clear.


We made a few fish from bits of leftover egg box card too,


and then the seals commandeered the penguins' pool ….



Maybe you remember a few weeks ago I showed you an upside-down shoe box? Well, this is what's inside.


The plan is to use my box of animals to promote Roll up to the Zoo as a possible book idea. Thankfully a friend is helping with the promo stuff, because I'm rubbish at that.


It might all come to nothing, but as my 6 year old says (as she enthusiastically enters yet another Milkshake! drawing competition), you've got to be in it to win it.

'Swings and roundabouts, Mummy!'

So weird hearing your own words coming back at you.

*Update Oct/2018* And it was worth it!

Plenty of projects to try in my craft books, 'Make Your Own Zoo' and 'Make Your Own Farm Animals'



23.11.13

Mr Crocodile rolls up to the Zoo

Our homemade Zoo is getting pretty busy. This is the fourteenth arrival since the loo roll lion kicked the whole thing off in May. Never imagined back then I'd end up spending so much time thinking about how to make a hoard of animals out of the recycling rubbish...


The crocodile is an egg box/cardboard roll combo - you'll need one of the pointy cone middle bits from an egg box.

Cut it in half, then cut a section of the loo roll middle for the body. Use the egg box piece to measure this if you like, but it doesn't need to be accurate - bigger is better at this stage.






Glue a pointy piece onto one end - don't try and glue it completely flat, concentrate on getting the sides to stick, but leave the top proud of the body. This will be the top part of the croc's head. And don't worry about the extra bits of card sticking out below - these can be snipped away once it's dry.


I think the tail looks better if you cut a curve into the other egg box bit before gluing it under the body - this time you want it to fit snuggly to the cardboard roll , though again don't worry about edges not meeting up at the bottom.
Paper clips help to hold everything in place while it dries.



When it's ready, cut away the hanging down bits so it sits flat, then paint your croc - remember to paint some spare card too.


For the teeth, cut a thin strip of white paper that wraps around most of the head section - use a black pen to draw a zigzag pattern. Snip each end into a gradual point and glue in place.


For the eyes we coloured some paper with a yellow highlighter pen and used a good old hole punch.
.

Put one of these on the spare green card and draw around it - so you have a small piece that's curved at the top and flat at the bottom.


Make two, glue on the circles, then you may need to cut more of the bottom edge off, so they don't stick out too much when you push them into slits (made with nail scissors) close to the top of the croc's head.


Cut out feet (do one and use as a template) - fold at an angle (see black lines below) and stick them on underneath so they point forward.



Then just draw on nostrils and some markings......and there you have it!


I've put the croc in the turtle's pool, but he could do with one made from a larger ice cream lid!


For a stealthy. swimming croc, forget the feet and cut more of the sides away...


...or just use a head....



Linking up with Kids Get Crafty

Many more projects like this in my craft books, 'Make Your Own Zoo' and 'Make Your Own Farm Animals'

20.9.13

Hey, Hey, it's the (egg box) Monkeys!

They've been a long time coming these monkeys, so really hope they're worth the wait...


The body's made from the same egg box bit as the penguins (the cone that stops the eggs bashing together),


you'll also need paint, glue and brown pipe-cleaners.


Once you've cut out the bodies (top 3cm), get painting, and don't forget to paint a piece of egg lid card brown too, plus a lighter colour for the face.


About a cm from the top, make holes for arms with nail scissors - keep closed, press down and twist from side to side) and do the same at the bottom for the legs.


Make a hole in the top (if there isn't one there already) and cut a slot about a cm long at the back for the tail.
Cut 3 pieces of pipe cleaner - two 9cm long, and one 12cm. Push the longer piece up through the hole until there's enough to bend into a loop (where you'll stick the head) - then pull the rest of the pipe cleaner up through the tail slot.




Push the other 2 pieces through for the arms, and the legs - when you're happy, fold the sharp tips over.


For the head, find a suitably sized circle (we used a thread reel) and draw round it twice on some cereal box card.

Now, using one as an outline, draw two small chimp ears near the top, touching the circle, and continue down to the bottom. See picture.

In the other circle, draw two 3's facing each other (see picture again). Use the bottom of the circle to form your 3's, and make the lower half fatter and shorter than the top bit.


Cut these pieces out, and you're looking for them to sit together like this...



...with a little of the lower part visible on either side. A bit fiddly, but once it's done and you're happy, use these pieces as templates for all your other monkeys.

Add any expression you like, and glue the head onto the pipe-cleaner hoop. Best to use a stronger all-purpose glue as PVA craft glue doesn't work so well with pipe cleaners.



We made a small playground for our monkeys too - you just need the top of an egg box + one egg cup, a suitable twig, paint, glue and some coloured paper. and a ball of plasticine (modelling clay)

First, paint the egg box lid green, (or you might already have a green one) and the egg cup piece grey.


Once they're dry, cut a strip of green paper (or paper you've painted) so it wraps around the cup, leaving a space at the front. Fold the bottom cm along the strip.
Fringe the paper up to the fold - my daughter loves doing this - then chop bits out and make it different lengths so it looks more grass like.


Snip a few times into the cm fold - this helps when it come to sticking it neatly under the egg cup.
Brush glue around the side of the stone - with the fold sitting along the bottom edge, press the grass on and stick the rest underneath.


Glue to the egg box lid. We added a few paper leaves to our tree. Make a hole for the tree and push the end into some plasticine to help keep it steady.
If you have any coloured tissue paper, scrupple little bits up to make flowers.



And once you've enough chimps, you could always try something else....We had a go at a baboon..


with cheeky extras..


Next time pandas.

Many more projects like this in my craft books, 'Make Your Own Zoo' and 'Make Your Own Farm Animals'