Flying birds made from an egg carton

It's been a long time since I shared any new Make Your Own Zoo projects here, but now the book's out, I really wanted to show you these - simple, colourful flying parrots. 

When you spend a silly amount of time looking at egg boxes, you start seeing things....  these birds are made from the piece between the egg cups - have a look: 

...there’s the moulded part in the middle for the body, and the curve of the egg cups either side for the wings.

And the best part is, if you turn it upside down, you have another flying bird shape - this time with wings down.

So, all you need is:

egg boxes

PVA craft glue

paint

general purpose scissors

straight-edged nail scissors

(all cutting should be supervised)

paper clip

needle

thread (about 50cm)

black felt tip pen

1. Start by drawing the bird shape in the box (see above), so you get the wings looking even, and make them as full as you can - draw right to the bottom of the egg cups. I’ve used a black marker to make the shape nice and clear - better though to use a pencil.

2. Cut out roughly first, then neaten up around the edges. Small scissors are great for this. 

wings up

wings down

Decide whether you want wings up or down.

wings up

wings down

3. We made two different tail feather shapes and cut them out of the egg box lid. 

The top of the tail feather piece needs to fill the groove, right up to the head, giving your bird a better body shape.

4. Before gluing in place, you might want to snip out some long zigzags, to make it look more feathery. You can do the same to the wings too.

5. Glue the tail feathers on top, if your bird has wings down, and underneath for wings up.

wings down

wings up

With the 'wings up' bird, push the tail feather piece into the groove where it joins the wings. If you need to, use a paper clip to hold in place while it dries. We couldn’t find a paper clip, so used a clothes peg... 

wings up

6. Painting time! Have fun with lots of bright colours.

Don’t forget to paint underneath too.

Paint the face a light colour so you will be able to see the eyes and beak.

7.  While the paint’s drying, make beaks. Cut a thin strip of cereal box card (about 5mm wide) and colour both sides black (a sharpie or something similar is good for this).

8. Round off one corner like so, for a hooked beak shape, and snip no more than 1cm from the strip. Make as many as you need.

9. When your parrots are dry, use the nail scissors to make a vertical slot for the beak (keep the scissors closed, press down and twist slightly from side to side - don’t push too hard!) 

Snip the slot to make it the right size for the beak. Brush a little glue on the end of the tab (or behind the head if there’s room) and push the beak into place. Dot on eyes with the black pen.

TIP: For a quicker, easier option, just draw on a beak with the black pen and dot eyes either side. 

10. Thread a needle, tie a good knot in the end and push it up through the middle of your bird, from underneath (probably best done by an adult). Don’t worry if it tilts up or down (it most likely will) as this adds to the flying effect! 
Put a dab of glue on the knot, to help it hold.

One tip to get a 'wings up' bird flying straight, is to find a mid-point where it balances on the end of the needle - easier than it sounds, honest! Press the needle in, just a little, underneath - try different spots until the bird balances. 

EXTRA STEP FOR WINGS DOWN BIRD

You may notice some of our wings down parrots have their claws showing, as if they’re coming into land. To do this, keep an extra bit of the join with the middle cone when you’re cutting out the basic shape, like so. Trim and paint.

In the book there’s an Aviary you can make for your flying birds, but they also look good as hanging decorations - or what about a string of flying parrots? 

Or maybe a mobile?

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

Best in Show: Pedigree knitting

...Well, not quite. It was all going swimmingly until I realised one of the hind legs was on back to front.

If it had been a sewing mistake that would have been a faff (though a manageable one), but it wasn't; for some reason I'd actually knitted the leg onto the body facing the wrong way.... so it stuck out at the back at a rather jaunty angle.

REALLY cross with myself, I'd spent such a long time on it by this stage. The patterns in 'Best in Show: 25 more dogs to knit' are fabulous but they're not for the faint hearted. If I hadn't been knitting the King Charles Spaniel for a friend, or had a bit of a deadline, it would have been slung into the lost world of half finished projects behind the sofa.

Luckily pipe cleaners came to the rescue... Most of the dogs in the book have pipe cleaners sewn into their legs to give them a bit of stability - mine were used to bend  the squiffy leg back into place. And it seemed to work - a critical eye would still spot the mistake, but I think it adds character!

It is a beautiful, clever and challenging book - frustrating at times, yes, for a make-do knitter like me, but well worth the effort. And I learnt how to do loopy stitch. My friend was really touched, it sort of looks a little like her dog... and was the best way I could think of to thank her for all her support and kindness. 

So, two down, just 23 to go...

Book ta-dah time! My Sunday Photo

....a little sooner than expected! I'd been gearing up for a 13th of August book release, but apparently if Amazon get them early, they send them out early. So a few people I know have theirs already, which is great and sort of strange as I've not seen one yet...but we are away!

I've had some lovely messages and pictures about Make Your Own Zoo - this is my 6 year old god-daughter and her flamingo.

Linking up with My Sunday Picture at onedad3girls

The trials and tribulations of a Tooth Fairy

We're away in France at the moment and my daughter is sleeping in a room with me.

The blue patchwork quilt at the front of the photo? That's me - she's on a mattress right next to the bed, and see that small colourful set of tiny drawers on top of the white box? Well that's where she put her tooth. To keep it safe for the Tooth Fairy.

And if that wasn't bad enough, as far as tricky TF obstacle courses go, she'd balanced two tiny Sylvanian puppies on top and carefully lent a plaster of Paris fairy brooch thing against the drawers.

I had to lean right over her to get anywhere near it. If I hadn't been so blinking tired it would almost have been funny - every time she shifted about or snuffled. I froze, musical-statue-like, in an awkward hovering pose. Took AGES.

When I eventually crept into bed it was after one. 

The next morning there was a fair deal of excitement about the money....not so much for the little TF letter and envelope I'd carefully crafted and penned in my teeniest, tiniest fairy writing.

But, you know, I'm glad I made the effort, because it feels like it might be the last time. My only TF believer is losing the faith, and I doubt I'll forget this one in a hurry...

Good to go out in style don't you think?

Shell Lady part 2 - The Pram

Sounds like a rather disappointing film sequel... but hopefully nothing disappointing about this little pram!

As with the Shell Lady, all you need is a good haul of shells, some all-purpose strong clear glue like UHU or Bostik, a fine black marker pen, like a Sharpie, and one extra thing - a paper clip for the pram handle.

The main part of the pram is made from two small limpet shells - you want one to be a little smaller than the other, so it sits inside, upright, like a hood. Try a few different shells until you’re happy with the fit. Don’t glue in place just yet though.

Choose 4 similar-sized periwinkle shells for the wheels, and glue the open part to the limpet pram base. Turn over to check it sits steady and doesn’t wobble. Glue in the pram hood and leave to dry. If the hood slips a bit, use another shell to hold it in place.

Find a small winkle shell for the baby’s head, glue it in the hood part of the pram and draw a face with a fine black marker (one that won’t smudge, like a Sharpie). Look for a small cockle shaped shell for the baby’s blanket. Don’t glue it in yet - first, make the handle by cutting off a piece of the paper clip (best done by a grown up), and bending it into an even, curved shape. Ours is blue because that’s all I could find!

Glue inside the limpet shell, then stick the blanket over the top, to cover the wire ends...

...and the pram's ready to be pushed.

Shell Lady - summer crafts for kids

I love shells. Put me on a shelly beach and that's me sorted really. Helped along by happy memories of summers spent by the sea. But here's the thing, what to do with all those shells that find their way home? A lot of mine are still in a large glass bowl in the bathroom... scary to think some of the little cowries near the bottom were found on Tyrella beach almost 40 years ago. But they're not all keepers, and there are plenty of other fun things to do with shells - Red Ted Art has some great ideas here. Making little figures and animals was my thing though, so I thought I'd share a favourite. The Shell lady.

If you'd like to have a go, it might be worth reading through first, so you know what to search for on your next beach trip. They're all common UK shells - periwinkles, whelks, limpets, banded wedge shells (we called them finger nail shells - wrong apparently!), and collect a good range of sizes and colours so you can try different ones together. Look out for any tiny shells too, or colourful shiny fragments to put in the basket.

Once you've got your shells, all you need is some strong, clear, all-purpose glue, like UHU, pens for face and hair (Sharpies are great for this) - and kids need a little patience... some waiting involved!

Start with the skirt, and either use one limpet shell on its own, or find a few that fit on top of each other, to give a pretty tiered skirt effect. Glue together.

The body is a small whelk shell. You want the opening to sit on top of the limpet - keep trying different ones until you're happy, and it stays put without being held in place - then glue onto the body and leave to dry. This is important, because if you plough straight on, bits will start to slide!

While the glue's drying, make a little basket. Use a small, flatish limpet shell, spread a bit of glue inside and add some tiny shells and colourful pieces.

My daughter made a few for her Sylvanians...

The head is a periwinkle, and again you're looking for one that fits snuggly on top of the pointy bit. Glue in place.

When dry, draw on a face and hair. Use a pen that won't wipe off, like a Sharpie.

Find two similar sized banded wedge shells for arms (or small mussel shells work well). If you want her to carry the basket, just glue on one arm...

....then glue the basket on the other side where the skirt meets the body. We propped ours up with a limpet shell while it dried.

Stick the other arm just behind the basket.

If you fancy a bonnet, glue a small limpet shell to the back of the head.

We didn't varnish ours, but it does help to protect the shells and bring out their colour. If you don't have any, a good 'make do' tip is to use a coat of clear nail polish instead.

The basket-less lady is looking a little left out, so we'll make her a pram to push next time!

Egg Box Peppa Pig

Who'd have thought the Clangers and Peppa Pig had something in common? Well it turns out you can make both in a very similar way from an egg carton!  Always good when one idea leads to another...

All you'll need is:
an egg carton
red and white paint
fine black felt tip or gel pen
red/pink felt tip pen or highlighter
general purpose scissors
Straight-edged nail scissors or similar (optional) Adult supervision needed

1. Roughly cut out as much of the two middle cones as you can from the egg box. This makes them easier to work with.

2. Take one, and just above any joins at the bottom, draw a line around the cone. Cut up and along the line. This will be the body.

3. For the legs, cut up the middle of one of the sides, about a third of the way. Then wiggle and turn your scissors to cut across to the corner and just beyond. Do the other side too, so you've cut a sort of 'T' shape. Now repeat this 'T' shape on the opposite side of the cone.

4. To form the legs, press the cut card edges in the middle towards each other and squeeze each side into a rounded leg shape. If they're too big, snip off a small piece of card. There's no need to use glue. The legs should hold and the body should be stable. (Snip the bottom of the legs if the body is a little wobbly)

5. For the head, take the other egg box cone and use a pencil and ruler to mark about 2cm (3/4in.) from the top on all sides. Join the marks with a line. Choose which side you'd like for the face and draw small round Peppa ears here. Keep them on top - don't draw past the corners.

6. To help cut the head out, cut up the two back corners to the pencil line, fold the flap of card back and cut it off. It should now be easier to cut along the rest of the line, cutting carefully around the ears. With the little fiddly bit of card between the ears, either bend it forward and snip off or simply fold it behind so it's inside the head.

7. On the underside of the head, cut up the two back corners, almost to the end, bend back this flap of card and cut it off. Glue the head onto the body - don't push it right down onto the top of the cone - there should be a small gap between the top of the cone and the top of Peppa's head.

8. While that's drying cut a thin strip of card for the arms (about 5cm/2in. long) from the egg carton lid.

9. Painting time - paint the head, legs and arm strip pink (lots of white and a little red), and then the middle part of the body red for Peppa's dress. Don't forget to paint the top part of the cone pink at the back.

10. When dry, fold the arm strip in half and cut along the crease. Use small scissors to snip fingers in the ends if you like.

Then, either glue the arms on the sides, OR, use the nail scissors to make slots for arms either side (keep them closed, press down firmly and twist until the tip pierces through the card, then cut slots)

Wiggle the scissors in and out a few times so it's easier to push the arms in.

11. Use a pink felt tip or highlighter to draw circles for cheeks, the snout and nostrils, and a big smile. Dot two small white dots of paint for eyes on top, in front of the ears. When dry, finish the eyes with a spot of black felt tip or gel pen.