Sleepy Cat - made from toilet paper rolls!

Squashing toilet paper tubes to make different shapes opens up a whole new world of crafting possibilities! If you visit my blog regularly you'll know I'm forever flattening them to make a square shape..

These sleepy cats are no exception, and they're really not as tricky to make as you might think. It's all about the cutting and the folding. They are made in a similar way to our dog (called Scamp) and pig (called Oink!)

You will need

Toilet paper roll (ours was about 10cm long)
Small piece of spare card (from a cereal box or another TP roll)
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Craft glue
Paint
Sponge (optional)
Black pen.

1. Flatten the TP roll with your hand, then press firmly along the creases.

2.  Draw two lines across the flattened tube - each one should be about the same distance from the ends, and shorter than the section in the middle (which will be the cat's body)

(For our roll which was roughly 10cm long, we drew lines that were 3cm from each end and the middle part was 4cm. See the picture below).

3. Then lift the tube and line up the two creases, in the middle (see below), and once you're happy, flatten the tube again, pressing along the two new side creases. There should now be four, hopefully evenly spaced crease lines around the tube.

4. While it's still flat, continue the pencil lines across the tube - free-hand is fine, the lines are just there as a guide.

5. Cut down all the creases at both ends to the pencil line.  8 cuts altogether.

6. Fold and press back all the flaps, except for two at opposite ends. These flat pieces will be the bottom part of the cat (the outstretched legs).

7. At one end, cut the top flap off, carefully along the crease. This square-isn piece will be your cats head. Keep it somewhere safe.

8. To define the legs, cut a thin triangle shape in the middle of the flat, unfolded piece of card. Cut right up inside your cat's body. Do this at both ends and round off the paws if you want.

9. Now, at the head end (the one with no top flap), fold one of the side flaps right back against the side of the tube, press firmly along the crease again, then fold this flap in the middle (so, effectively in half) so the top edge of the flap lines up with the bottom part of the flap (the edge of the body), and press firmly along the folds.

10. Do the same on the other side, then push these folded flaps inwards, towards the tube.

11. They should come together well enough, like little doors, to seal off the front of your cat.

They will jut out a bit in the middle (see RHS of photo below), but this is what we want, because this is where the head will be attached later. No need to use any glue at this stage.


12. Do exactly the same to the flaps at the other end, but this time, before you push them inwards, into the tube, cut a slit up the middle of the top flap, right up to the fold (cut a sliver of card out, to make a slightly larger slot - this makes things easier)

As you can see ours isn't exactly in the middle! But it still works, it doesn't need to be perfect. Push this top flap down, to cover the hole, and then press the two side flaps into the slot.

Essentially it's like closing a little box! And it should hold together without glue.

13. Now for the tail - draw on some spare card (we used another tp roll, so both sides were easy to paint)

We made our tail quite curly and quite fiddly to cut out! So do go for a simpler shape if you prefer.

Make the tail extra long at the body end, so you can slot it into the back.

It should stay in position, but take it out again for painting.

14. Take the square of card you cut off earlier for the head, and cut a gentle curve along one side, to form the cat's ears.

15. Time to paint, and we used a sponge, which was fun and really quick! For our marmalade cat we squirted some yellow and a little red poster paint onto a sheet of newspaper (with an extra sheet underneath) and used the sponge to mix the colours and press the paint onto the cardboard pieces.  Using the sponge gives a lovely mottled effect.

Sponge both sides of the tail.

(might notice the newspaper's been recycled from the forget-me-not printing project!)

16. When the paint's dry, slot the tail back in (dab some glue on the end, if you feel it's a bit loose) and use a black pen (gel or thin marker pen) to draw on a face, plus claws on the front paws.

We added some tabby stripes to the face on the left with an orange Sharpie. You could draw stripes on the body too if you wanted.

Put a good blob of glue on the back of the head and attach to the top of the protruding flaps at the front. You could glue it so the head is facing forward, or glue the head angled to one side, as we did.

And here's my real sleepy cat!!

Egg carton turtle and babies - #stayathomecrafts

 Another craft that uses the whole egg carton, and makes a perfect home for the little turtle babies!

You will need:
2 egg cartons
Cereal box card
Craft glue
Paint
Black pen
Nail scissors (optional, to be used by an adult)

1. With green paint and a big brush, paint the outside of an egg carton, the cereal box card and the bottom of the egg cups from the second carton.

2. Squirt some red and some yellow paint on a plate or palette, and mix them in the middle to make orange, then have fun splodging on yellow and orange on your turtle and baby turtle's shells, and dab on a little red with finger tips. Messy and fun!
We got a bit carried away, so added a few more blobs of green on top, to break up the bright colours.

3. For the big turtle's head, cut a strip from the green card, about 4cm wide. Cut it so it's about 6cm long and round off one end.

4. For the back legs, cut a strip about 3cm wide, cut two pieces from either end of the strip, about 5cm long. and round off one end of each.

5. For the front flippers, use a decent sized cup or glass and draw around the rim. Cut out the circle and and cut the circle in half.

6. Cut away the middle part of the semi circle - use a pencil to draw this first, if it helps.

7.  Then round off one end of each flipper, but make sure you round OPPOSITE ends, so the flippers can go either side of the turtle's head.

8.  Glue the legs inside the carton at one end, on or near the corners.

9.  Use a black pen to draw the face on the head part, and either glue this in the middle of the other end and glue the flippers on top of it, or flippers first and head on top. Whatever's easier.

If the flipper doesn't go far enough down the side that's attached to the lid, cut the connecting card a little and slot the flipper in.

10. The baby turtles or turtlettes, are made in a very similar way. Cut out as many egg carton cups as you want. For a quick finish, cut a strip for the head, snip into 2cm lengths and round one end. Draw on a face. Either glue the end of the head piece inside the 'shell'. When dry fold into place, OR, make a hole in the side of the carton cup, about half way up (to be done by a adult - keep nail scissors closed, press down and twist from side to side. It helps if you put a piece of modelling clay behind where you're making the hole, so there's something to press into)

Once you've pierced through, make a slot for the head and push it into place.

These babies will look sweet as they are, but if you would like to add legs, cut a thin strip for the back legs, cut off small pieces, about 2cm long and round ends.

For the flippers, draw around something small, like a  thread spool or small spice jar - cut out the circle, and cut the circle in half. Cut away the middle of each semi circle and round one end of each, making sure they're opposite ends, and glue the ends under the turtle's shell. When dry, fold out.

When the babies get tired of swimming, they can always have a little rest under Mum's shell..

Oink! the Pig - TP roll crafts for kids

Oink is very similar to Scamp the dog. I love the way they look like they're on the move! 

Made from a single toilet paper roll that's quickly transformed with a few careful cuts and folds, plus a little bit of glue.

You will need:

Toilet paper roll (about 10cm long)

Scissors

Pencil

Ruler

Paint (white and red)

Craft glue

Paper clip or similar

Black felt tip or gel pen

1. Paint a toilet paper roll pink (plenty of white an a little red). Paint the inside too, at both ends, as well as a small piece of spare card (for a snout). 

When the paint is dry, lightly press the cardboard tube flat, but no need to press firmly along the creases. The creases are  mainly for guidance.

2. Line up the two creases you've just made in the middle, and press the tube flat again, but not too hard, so you end up with four evenly spaced, light creases.

3. While the tube's still flat, use a ruler and pencil to mark 2cms in from each end along the middle crease. Then use this mark as a guide to mark the two creases either side. And finally the one on the back.

4. Cut up to the marks, so you'll have four cuts at each end.

5.  For the legs, fold two opposite end flaps down, and cut a thin, long triangle from the middle of the flaps, to define the legs.

6. For the tail end, cut a top flap into three strips. Leave the middle one (for the tail) and bend the other two down.

7.  Fold the side flaps inwards, and glue them together. Use a paper clip or something similar to hold the card in place while the glue dries. Trim the card flaps if you need to, to neaten things up.

8. Roll the card tail between your fingers, from the end, right down to the pig's back, to make it curl.

9.  For the ears, fold the top flap at the other end, so it points up and cut out a triangle, from each corner to the middle of the flap.

10. For the face, fold the two remaining side flaps right back. 

11. Then fold each of these flaps in half and firmly press the creases.

Bend the flaps back towards each other.

12.  Glue the flaps on top of each other and use a paper clip to hold them in place while the glue dries. 

13. When the glue has set, you could draw on a snout and eyes straight away. Or, cut out a round snout from the spare piece of painted pink card, add nostrils and glue in place. Draw eyes either side with the black pen. Shorten the legs and bend the ears forward.

14. And Oink is ready to scamper off!