Brian the Lion

What can I say about Brian? He was the first cardboard tube animal I made with my daughter, and I've always had a soft spot for him.  He really kicked off the whole Zoo and Farm craft journey, so I couldn't be happier he now has his very own picture book.

'Brian the Lion goes into Space' is a colourful, wacky space adventure, with some fun twists and turns along the way.. There are lots of little beardy blue gnomes, rainbow food, oh, and a friendly dragon called Norris.. 

The gnomes want to read Brian's new book!

The book combines storytelling and craft, as Brian's world is made out of cardboard (of course).. 

All the picture scenes in the book are created from ordinary packaging like egg cartons, tubes and cereal boxes. Plenty of familiar things for kids to spot, and hopefully it'll inspire some making too! The book is available on Amazon.

I have shared a Brian project before, quite a long time ago now.. so, in honour of his first book, I've updated it here.

You will need:

Toilet paper tube (or kitchen paper roll)

Cereal box card

A cup/beaker and egg cup/spice jar or similar, to draw around

Craft glue

Scissors

Ruler

Pencil

Yellow and Brown paint (mix a little red with yellow and a dab of blue)

Black felt-tip or gel pen

Paper clips

1. Paint the tube and some cereal box card yellow (enough for the face, tail and paws) and paint another piece of card brown (enough for the mane). 

Painting first can speed up the making (if your mini maker doesn't mind a short wait at the start..), but in MYOZ we got stuck in straight away, cutting and gluing the body first, and then painting, which is fine too!

2. When the paint is dry, cut the tube so it's about 8cm high. An easy way to do this is to use a ruler to  mark 8cm on the side, then squeeze the tube flat, near the mark, and cut across, cutting through the mark (younger ones might need some help cutting through the double card).

3. Squeeze the top part of your tube together again, and give Brian some shoulders by snipping little triangles off the sides. Don't take too much off.

4. Brush some glue all along the inside edges of the end you've just cut. Don't overload with glue or it will ooze out everywhere when you squeeze the glued sides together.

Use two paper clips to keep the sides together while the glue dries.

5. Time to make Brian's head. On the brown card, use a pencil to draw around a big circle, like the top of a cup or beaker - and draw around a small circle, like an egg cup or spice jar on the yellow card. Carefully cut these out. (slowly turn the card circle towards you as you cut, rather than moving or turning the scissors.)

6. Place the smaller yellow circle in the middle of the brown one, and when you're happy, lightly draw around it and put aside.

(*see tip below for younger makers) 

7. For his mane, the best and easiest way to keep it even, is to cut up to the pencil line and then make a cut opposite the one you've just made.

Halfway between them, make another cut on both sides. 

Keep cutting halfway between all your cuts until you feel his mane is full enough. (Don't worry if you cut over the pencil line, this will be covered up by the face in a moment)

8. Draw on Brian's face with a black pen. Brush a thin layer of glue on the back of the face and place it in the pencil circle on the mane. Make sure you don't use too much glue or it will squidge out the sides!

9. From the spare yellow card, cut a thin strip for a tail and cut out two paws. (You could make a paw template first, then draw around it to keep your paws the same size). 

We cut out a little brown piece to glue onto the end of the tail too, but leave it plain if you want, or colour in the end with a pen. Add some claws to the paws.

10. Glue the paws on, again, just use a little glue, and make sure they don't hang over the edge of the tube. Dab some glue on the plain end of the tail strip (painted side) and stick it at the back, inside the tube (you can bend it into place when the glue has dried).

Finally, remove the paper clips and glue on the head.

Leave Brian lying on his back while the glue dries. 

 When Brian's ready, bend the tail back, into place, and fluff up his mighty mane!

* TIP: For younger makers, leave out the mane cutting and draw on paws instead of cutting them out.

There's also a tutorial to make the little blue gnomes Brian meets on his adventure in space. Using corks and cotton wool! Full step-by-step instructions here.

Bunny and Chick Easter egg holders

These make great table decorations for a Easter day spread. You could even write the children's (and adults..) names on them, before filling with treats like mini eggs.

You will need:
Toilet paper tube (or two)
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler
Paint
Glue
Glue stick
Black pen (gel or felt-tip)
Green paper (optional)
Coloured tissue paper
Feathers (optional)

1. Flatten the cardboard tube with your hand - press down along the sides, so you can see the creases.

2. Squeeze the tube back into shape, then line up the two creases you've just made, in the middle, and flatten again, pressing down on the sides.

3. While the tube is flat, use a ruler and pencil to draw a line across the tube, about 2cm from the bottom.

4. Use the scissors to cut down the (longer) two side creases to the pencil line.

5. Squeeze the tube back into shape, then line up the cuts you've just made in the middle, and press the tube flat again.

6. With a pencil, draw half an 'n' shape on the fold, so it goes about halfway up the tube. Leave a space between the pencil shape and the side cuts.

7. Cut around the shape to the pencil line (*mini makers might need help cutting through the double card). Snip through the crease at the top, above the shape (see pic below), so you can bend each side piece down, and fold on the line. Now they're easier to snip off.

When you squeeze the tube back into shape you will have the body for your chick or bunny.

8. For the head, draw around something like a coin or a bottle top on spare card and cut out (if there isn't enough card left, cut open another toilet paper tube and use that.)

9. (Bunny only) Fold some spare card and draw a rabbit ear on top. Cut through the double card * to get two identical ears. For an easier option, use paper instead.

10. Now you have all your pieces, it's painting time. Paint behind the body first - use a nice, bright colour. Then paint the body and the other pieces. Paint a small piece of spare card (or paper) orange, for the chick's beak.

You could paint the foreground, below your chick or bunny green, or make paper grass (in step 12) 

We also cut long zig-zags into the back of the tube, to make it look like the rabbit's hiding in some grass.

11. Use a black pen to draw on the faces. For the chick, cut out a small triangle from the piece of painted orange card (or use paper), and use a small amount of glue to stick it under the eyes. Glue the bunny ears behind the head.

12. If you would like to make some grass for the front of your egg holder, cut out a strip of green paper (or colour in some plain paper). It needs to wrap round half your tube and be about a cm or so higher that the pencil line at the front.

14. Cut zig-zags along the strip - keep them short and make them uneven.

15. Glue the grass below your chick or bunny, lining it up with the bottom of the tube - a glue stick is good for this, just rub a layer of glue on the back of the grass.

16. For the flowers, scrunch up small squares of coloured tissue paper, dot some glue on the grass, where you want them to go, and stick in place.

17. Glue the chick's head on and if you have two feathers, glue them either side. If you don't have feathers, you could cut some wings out of paper and colour in.

For the bunny, glue the head onto the body.

You could use a paper clip to keep things in place while the glue dries, or prop them on their sides.

And why not customise your egg holder with some blingy sequins before adding Easter treats.

(They're a perfect size for a creme egg.. )

Linking up with #bloggerclubuk

Happy St Patrick's Day...

..from Brian the Lion and his blue, beardy friend (visiting from a planet far, far away... )

Find out how they met in my new book, 'Brian the Lion goes into Space', which is out next month. More about that soon!

Creme egg cockatoo

This is just a bit of fun - creme egg wrapper to cockatoo collage in four snips!

The hardest part is getting the foil off in one piece!

Shoebox kitchen - walls and floor

The units we made in the last kitchen project are ready to be fitted, so it's time to sort out the walls and the floor!  

You'll need:

Cereal box card

Wrapping paper or paint (optional)

Pencil

Ruler

Scissors

Craft glue

Glue stick

Plain paper

Felt-tip pens

Self-adhesive postage labels

1. We covered our kitchen walls with wrapping paper - this isn't the easiest job, but it does look great, even with a few bubbles and wrinkles here and there..  But you don't have to cover the walls at all, or you could simply paint them.

2. If you're wallpapering, you'll be covering the two short ends and the back. Start by carefully drawing around the base of the box with a pencil, on the back of your paper - then draw around the two ends. 

Cut the pieces out. They'll probably end up a little bigger than you need, but better too big than too small.

3. Stick the sides in first. You only need a thin layer of glue on the box. I find a glue stick rubbed over the cardboard is a good way to do this with kids, though you will get through a fair amount of it! Line each piece up with the edge of the box and the top (ceiling) corner, so any extra paper will go on the back wall and on the floor and can be covered later.

Try the back piece of wallpaper for size first before gluing. If it's far too wide, trim a little, but make sure it still covers the joins with the side walls. Don't worry too much about the height,  line it up with eh back edge of the ceiling, and smooth down, so any extra paper will be hidden under the kitchen floor. 

4. While that's drying you could make a splash back for your kitchen units, though again, leave this step out if you want.

Measure the length of your units on some spare cereal box card and use a ruler to draw a long strip, about 2cm wide. we measured and drew squares on ours, but there's no need to do this. Paint your strip and at the same time you could paint another corner of card for the shelves.

Cut out your splash back, mark where the top of the units touches the back wall, on both ends - then stick down the strip of card, so the bottom of the splash back is just below the marks you've made.

5. For the floor, cut a large piece of cereal box card that's the length of your shoebox, but make it wider than the sides, about 3cm wider, otherwise we're not going to have masses of room for the table and chairs (next time!). Again, you can leave the floor plain, or paint or colour it in. We measured out squares again, and coloured them in with a felt-tip pen.

(didn't bother drawing squares on the back line, as this will be covered up by the kitchen units)

Glue down the floor. Weigh it down with books will the glue dries.

6. What about a window? Ours is 8x7cm - measure it out on the corner of a plain piece of paper.

Use pens or paint to draw a scene you'd like to see out of your window! Once you're happy, cut it out. Sticky postage labels are really handy for the window frame. Use a ruler and pencil to draw thin strips and cut them out. Peel off and stick around your window. Trim the extra bits away.

Rub some glue stick on the back of the window and stick it just above the splash back, behind the sink.

7. For the shelves, cut out two strips from your painted (or plain) card. Ours are 2cm wide and 8cm long. Fold them in half lengthways, and press firmly along the fold. Then glue the shelves onto the wall. Leave your kitchen on its back while the glue dries.

Next time, a bit of furniture...