Showing posts with label egg carton craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label egg carton craft. Show all posts

28.5.20

Egg carton foxgloves



It's foxglove time of year again, and I love the way they self-seed and pop up randomly in the garden - in the weirdest places sometimes. They're biennials, so they don't flower their first year, but make up for it (with bells on!) the second year.

Egg carton cones are perfect for the shape of the bell-like flowers - add some paint, a few green pipe cleaners and paper leaves, and you have foxgloves to enjoy all year round!

You will need:

10 egg carton cones (2 x dozen cartons or 5 x half-a-dozen cartons)
Scissors
Paint
4 long Pipe cleaners (ours were about 30cm) + 1 for attaching the leaves
Sheet green paper (or plain painted)


1. Roughly cut the middle cones from the cartons.


2. You need to vary the size of the cones - so two big, two a little smaller, the next two smaller again and so on. So you have five sets of two. But honestly, each set of two doesn't have to be exactly the same! As long as all of them range from big to small that's fine.

(Easiest I think to cut them all out the same first - so cut around each cone, just above the bumpy cardboard join and then put two cones aside, and mark the others with a pencil in sets of two, getting a little closer to the cone top each time)


3. Next, you need to angle your foxglove bells, so you can see inside.

Draw a straight pencil line across one side of a cone, roughly a cm or so above the bottom edge, and then join the ends of this pencil line to the two back corners with a diagonal line.



Cut out. Do the same for all ten.





4. Painting time next, and we used a mix of purple, pink and white, to paint each cone, and then brushed white paint around the edge and dots of white inside. It helped to have a real foxglove bell to look at, but you could also use an online photo.




5. When the painted was dry, we added some green paint on the pointy end, but this is an optional step.



6. You will need four pipe-cleaners for this bit - ours were about 30cm long. Keep one aside and cut the other three into three roughly equal pieces (of about 10cm)

Wind one end of the uncut pipe-cleaner around itself to make a kind of knot (so it doesn't slip through the hole), and thread through one of the smallest cones.

(Our cones already had holes on top, you may have to make holes, nails scissors are good for this, or place the cone on a piece of old modelling clay, with the pointy end on the clay, and push a sharp pencil/pen or knitting needle through the inside of the cone, so it pierces through the top. Take care though, as the card can be thin here, and don't make the holes too big)


7. Do the same with all the other smaller pieces of pipe-cleaner.



8. Now, wind each bell onto the long pipe-cleaner, going from small to large.

First, hold the other smallest cone about 2cm or so below the top flower, and out to one side. When you're happy with the position, wind the short pipe-cleaner tightly around the stem. Then hold one of the next size cones JUST below the one you've done, facing to the other way, and wind the short pipe-cleaner tightly around the long stem again.




9. A few cms below, add the next two (in order of size) in the same way, and repeat, until you have three cones remaining.

You want to get these three to be close to each other.

So, do as you've done before, add the next size a few cms below the two above, and bend it so it's facing the opposite way from the last one you attached.

Then add the next one JUST below it, but make this one face forward. Add the last cone JUST below this one, facing the other other direction, winding the pipe-cleaners as you go.



Here you can see what it looks like underneath the bottom three.



And here, how it looks from behind - see the gaps between each set of cones.


10. You will need to move the cones around now - twist any that have moved, so you can see inside, and angle them downwards. Bend one of the bells just above the bottom row more into the middle, so it's more in line with the middle cone on the bottom row. This makes the foxglove look fuller.

11. It would help if you fold the bottom of the pipe-clear up to meet the ends of the pipe-cleaners attached to the bottom flowers. We didn't do this, but it should help make the stem sturdier.

If you don't want to add leaves, wrap a pipe-cleaner tightly around the stem from near the bottom of the flowers to the end, folding in and winding around the pointy tip. Cut off any pipe-cleaner left over.

12. If you do want leaves, don't add the last pipe-cleaner yet. Fold a piece of green paper in half. (Or a plain paper and paint green after)

Draw a long thin shaped leaf and cut out so you end up with two the same.

Wrap the last pipe-cleaner tightly around the stem, to cover the ends of the pipe-cleaners attached to the bottom flowers. (We didn't have another dark green one, but the different colour helps show up the winding!)



13. Once you're clear of the bottom of the flowers, wrap the very end of one leaf around the stem and then wrap the pipe-cleaner tightly around it, to hold it in place. Just below, do the same with the other leaf.



14. Keep winding until you get to the bottom of the stem.




2.5.20

Paper roll birdhouse for little egg carton birds




toilet paper roll craft


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.