There have been so many of these sweet little egg carton birds popping up here over the years, and I thought it was about time they had a home! The birdhouse is made from one toilet paper roll (or part of a kitchen roll) and really doesn't take long to do.
You will need:
Toilet paper roll
Scissors
Craft glue
Paper clips or similar (laundry pegs work too!)
Paint or pens to decorate
Egg carton (for the bird)
Black pen
1. If you want to paint your birdhouse, do that first, and when the paint's dry, flatten the tube with your hand, pressing firmly along the two creases.
If you're keen to decorate your bird house with felt-tips or marker pens, it's best to do that now, when the tube is flat. That's how we did the flowery and the striped one above. (I used a thick marker pen for the stripes)
2. Draw a pencil line across the tube that's below the halfway mark. Our tube was roughly 10cm high, so we drew the line across about 4cm from the bottom edge.
3. Line up the two creases in the middle, and press down on the tube again on a flat surface. Press firmly along the sides, to make another two creases.
You've now made four evenly spaced corners and turned the circular tube into a square shape, but keep it flat for now.
4. Continue the pencil line across the tube.
5. Squeeze into shape, and cut down all four corner creases to the pencil line on the longer part of the tube. (see pic below)
6. Bend one of the flaps forward, folding it firmly on the pencil line.
7. You then need to fold it back on itself, leaving a little shelf or ledge jutting out. Press firmly along this crease too.
8. Pull the flap back, brush a little glue in the crease and press into place again. Use something like paper clips or a laundry peg to hold it while the glue dries.
9. Now fold the flaps either side. You need to fold them out, so they're just below the little shelf you've just made. (see pic below). And even. Press firmly along the creases.
10. To make the roof of the birdhouse, bend these two side pieces inwards now, pressing the ceases the other way. So you're bringing the two flaps towards each other.
Brush some glue along the very top edge of one side (don't use too much glue or brush it too far down the card).
Use paper clips or something similar to hold the top of the roof together while it dries.
11. When it's dry, take the clip off and press the top of the roof down with your finger, to get it back into shape.
13. Cut the card away at the back, roughly following the contours of the roof.
14. I've already written a few tutorials for the little birds, but here's a quick reminder.
Roughly cut out an egg carton cone from the carton, and cut around the cone, just above the bumpy cardboard joins.
To make this easier you could draw a rough line around the cone, just above the cardboard join. Cut up to the line at an angle, then cut along the line.
15. Once your cone is cut out, draw a pencil line around the cone, about halfway up. Don't worry if the line is a bit wobbly, it's just a guide.
16. Cut up the four corners to the pencil line, and bend three of the flaps out, folding on the line. Cut these three flaps off.
17. The remaining one is the tail feathers. Shorten this if you want.
18. You can either cut out wings (teardrop shape) from the little bits of left over card, or simply draw on wings with a black pen after you've painted your bird.
19. Set your bird on top of a spare cone, this makes the painting a lot easier.
20. Dot on eyes with a black pen near the very top of your bird's head. Paint or draw on a beak just below the eyes. Or cut out a little orange/yellow triangle and glue it on with a glue stick.
