I'm not the biggest fan of Valentine's day, but I am partial to a good hearty craft, and unlike most Valentine's stuff, this one won't cost you!
These little lovebirds are made from corks (saved up over Christmas.. I have many.. ) They are quick and easy to do and can be turned into a useful gift, like a keyring or a fridge magnet. Love a useful craft! You could also write a little Valentine's message on the heart if you want to.
You'll need:
A cork
Coloured paper
Paint
Hole punch
Glue stick
Craft glue
Fine black felt tip or gel pen
Feather (optional)
Mini eye pin (optional)
Keyring (optional)
Small magnet (optional)
Strong all-purpose glue (optional)
1. Paint the cork any colour you want.
2. Fold a small piece of coloured paper in half and draw half a heart on the fold. You want it to be roughly half to two thirds the length of the cork - and make it narrow. If it looks too big, fold the heart again and trim until you're happy with the size.
4. Rub some glue stick on the back of the heart and glue it to the cork with the point almost touching the bottom edge. Cut a strip of different coloured paper for the wings - make the shorter side about the same height as the heart. If you're making a penguin, leave out the wing strip.
5. Line the edge of the strip up with one side of the heart and the base of your bird, and wrap the rest around the cork - cut away any extra paper where it touches the other side of the heart.
6. Rub glue stick on the top half of the strip only and glue in place, so the bottom of the wings stick out slightly.
7. For the eyes, use a hole-punch to punch out some circles - rub a little glue stick where you want the eyes to go on the cork, wet your finger to help pick up the little circles and stick them in place.
8. Use a fine black pen to add the centres.
9. For the beak, cut out a small triangle from yellow or orange paper (or colour in some plain paper), rub glue stick just below the eyes, wet your finger to help pick up the triangle, and glue in place.
10. Paint feet on the bottom edge with yellow paint and leave to dry.
11. To add a feathery head plume, make a hole on top by screwing in a small screw, nearer to the front of your bird. Take the screw out.
12. Choose a feather, dab a little glue on the pointy tip and push it into the hole.
13. To make your lovebird into a keyring, screw a mini eye pin (seen in step 11) into the top of your cork and attach a keyring. Or, for a fridge magnet, glue a small magnet to the back of your bird. Use strong all-purpose glue like UHU.
I got these little magnets on Ebay - they're a great size, weren't expensive and are seriously strong. Nothing worse than a fridge magnet that doesn't hold stuff!
Linking up with Trash2Treasure