I saw this craft in Family Fun magazine's October issue and just had to try it out for myself. The owls are so cute! After trying a few different things, I have added a few more details than the original article, to make it a little more clear. This craft is more appropriate for an elementary age child.
What you need:
- 1 Toilet paper tube
- 2-3 Cupcake liners (suggested colors: white, brown & yellow)
- Glue (tacky or school glue)
- Clear tape
- Black marker
- Card stock (I used white, yellow & orange)
- Scissors
- Small Rx bottle cap or 1 1/2" circle punch
What to do:
- Cut off about 1 inch of cardboard from the top of a cardboard toilet paper tube.
- Fold over about 1/4" of the tube on both sides and push the middle down so that the outside corners point up and then tape it in the middle. This forms the owl's ears.
- Take a cupcake liner and spread it out. Fold it in half and then in half again. Unfold and cut into quarter pieces. Cut the flat parts off, leaving only the ruffled part.
- Starting at the bottom center of the tube (ears should be on the sides), glue the ruffled pieces to the tube in overlapping layers, until you have four layers.
- Cut the eyes out of cardstock. I cut 2 out of white and 2 out of yellow. I didn't have a 1 1/2" circle punch, but I found a Rx cap about that size and traced around it. The yellow circles just barely peak out from under the white circles on the sides.
- Using the black marker, add the pupils and dots along the outer sides of the white circles. Glue the yellow circles under the white circles so that they are just barely showing along the outer edges. If yellow shows on the other side, cut it off. If you are making a white owl, instead of using yellow cardstock, you can glue pieces of the ruffled part of the cupcake liner behind the white circles. (see picture of owls)
- With the body of the owl facing you, glue the 1st eye to the right side of the tube first, so that the ear peaks out above it. Glue the other eye on, overlapping the 2 eyes. You should still be able to see both ears.
- Cut out a triangular beak from the orange cardstock and glue it on right at the bottom of the 2 eyes.
- To make the ruffled wings, take another cupcake liner and cut it in half. Glue to the back of the tube, overlapping at the bottom. Take your scissors and angle the top of the wings so that the wing tip on the outside is higher that the inside tip.
To display:
I just clipped 2 clothespins to the outside of a small metal bucket. The original FF article suggested creating a centerpiece using a branch to perch them on.
