Showing posts with label cardboard tube craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cardboard tube craft. Show all posts

28.3.18

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.. 



Brian the Lion goes into Space
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.





13.7.17

Cardboard tube fairy - easy crafts for kids



We’re on a bit of a roll with toilet paper tube crafts… corny pun aside, we have been pretty busy with our hoard of cardboard rolls. 
And like many of the other recent projects, Mary the fairy was inspired by the tubescapes we made a few months back. One idea often leads to another and I really love that. 
She is easy to do, great scissor practice, and can be made from just one tube - that’s wings and head too.

You’ll need:
Toilet paper tube ( or kitchen roll shortened to about 10cm/4in.)
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Glue
Sticky tape
Paint
Coloured felt tip pens
Black felt tip or gel pen
Glitter, sequins, stickers (optional)

1. Flatten the tube with your hand and about halfway up, draw a pencil line straight across using a ruler. Draw another line about a cm or so (1/2in.) up from one end.


2. On the other side of the middle line, cut at an angle from the end of the line to the top of the tube, but not quite as far as the corner. Keep the triangle shaped piece for the wings. 


3. Cut along both pencil lines from the shorter side, leaving the last cm (1/2in.) uncut, and then fold the middle piece of card over firmly, before cutting along the crease to remove it. Keep this card too, for the head. Squeeze your tube open, and you have the base for your fairy. 


4. Make her dress less pointy by trimming the sides. 


5. Take the piece of spare card leftover from forming the fairy’s legs, keep it folded and draw a curve on the folded end, for her hair. 


6. Cut out and open up. If it looks too big for her body, fold again and trim until you’re happy.

7. Use the card you’ve just cut away to draw a semi-circle shape for the face, using a straight edge of the card (on its side it looks like a capital D). Cut this out but don’t glue to the hair until all the pieces have been painted.


8. Take the spare piece of card from the start of the project, and cut along the crease so you have two triangles. These are going to be your fairy's wings.


9. Paint all the card pieces any colours you want. Make a good flesh shade by mixing a little red with white to make light pink, then a tiny touch of yellow and blue.


10. When the paint is dry, glue the face to the hair.

11. Flatten down your tube and draw shoes with a felt pen and draw on the face. 


12. Glue the head to the top of the body, and then use sticky tape to attach it firmly behind. Use the sticky tape to attach the wings to the back of the body too. 




Decorate with glitter, sequins or stickers, if you want your fairy to sparkle! 



16.6.17

Little cardboard tube houses - crafts for kids

cardboard houses

These little houses are really easy to make and you can decorate them absolutely any way you like! You could add them to the city scene we made last time, or make a village or town of your own, with different shops and houses. Have fun creating a scene!

All you'll need is:
Cardboard tubes
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Paint
Craft glue
Paper clip (optional)
Fine black felt tip or gel pen


1. First of all you need to make the tubes less tubey, as we did with the city scene, so flatten one with your hand and press firmly along the two creases.


2. Open the tube up, and line up the two creases you've just made - the flatten the tube again, making two more creases. Press firmly along these as well.


3. While the tube is still flat, use the ruler and pencil to draw a pencil line across it, 3 to 4cm (1in. to 11/2in.) from one end. This will be the height of the walls.  If you are going to make more than one it would be good to vary the size and to use tubes that are different widths too.

Draw another line across, about 3cm (1in.) up from the first line. This will be one side of the roof and again the size could be altered if you want a taller, pointier roof or a flatter one.


4. Open up the tube and flatten it again, so you can see the pencil lines you've just made and it's easy to extend them. Do this one more time so the lines go right around the tube.


5. Cut down each corner to the first line you made near the bottom, and fold back the flaps firmly.


6. Cut two opposite flaps off, along the fold. Keep one spare piece for the chimneys.


7. Cut another one off too, but not right to the fold this time - leave a very small section of the flap so you can attach the roof here later.


8. Fold the remaining flap back on the second pencil line. Fold it right back so you can measure it against the other side of the roof, and cut any extra card away so both sides are roughly the same size. Then bend the roof fold the other way. Your little house is taking shape!



9. Paint the walls and roof of your house any colour you like, or you could leave it plain. Paint a spare piece of card from earlier the same colour as the walls, if you want your house to have chimneys.


10. When the paint's dry, use a fine black pen to add doors and windows to the side with the small flap. Add roof tiles too if you want, and use felt tips or paint to add any colour detail you fancy. We put flowers along the front of some of our houses and tried a rambling rose too.

For a chimney or chimneys, cut a thin strip from the spare piece of card you painted, and cut in half.


11. When you're happy with your house, brush some glue on the short flap at the front (if your glue isn't very tacky, use a paper clip to hold the card together while it dries. To make tacky glue, leave some PVA  uncovered in an old jar or yogurt pot for a day or two. This should thicken it up. Very handy if you want things to stick quickly and not to slip!)


12. To add chimneys, make small cuts either side of the crease on the roof top - or just one if you only want one chimney pot. Put some glue on the bottom half of your chimney, and slot it into place. When you're happy with the height, stick the gluey part to the underside of the roof front and bend the chimney(s) into position.



Have fun creating your own houses/cottages/shops/schools! You could add a few trees from the city scene project too.

cardboard tube houses







29.5.16

There's a giraffe in my garden...


Many hours and many loo rolls later, Terribly Tall Terry is ready for the Hay Literary Festival!
Definitely a labour of love, but worth it I think.
He'll be watching over me during the Make Your Own Zoo workshops in the Make and Take tent this Thursday.
We'd love to see you!



Linking up with Photalife's My Sunday Photo