Caroline
A fellow blogger friend of mine recently challenged me and a few other bloggers to make a craft out of a 2-liter soda bottle. After a little inspiration that I found on internet and my love for bird crafts, I decided my daughter and I would make an Owl Craft. I might have technically cheated since I used two soda bottles, but hopefully my friends forgive me after seeing this little owl’s cuteness. If you adore owls and love repurposing recyclable materials into crafts you’re going to love this one! Look for book suggestions at the end of this post.
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Supplies needed:
- two empty and clean 2-liter soda bottles (we used green Gingerale bottles)
- craft knife
(for adult use only) - white, black and yellow cardstock paper
- sheet of printed scrapbook paper
- colored cardstock paper
(color of your choice) - scissors
- tacky glue
- 2-inch circle punch
- 1.5-inch scallop circle punch
- pencil
Tutorial:
1. Prepare a soda bottles
Start by removing the labels from your soda bottles. Carefully cut both of the soda bottles in half with your craft knife. This step must be completed by an adult.
2. Connect bottles together
Turn one of your soda bottles upside down and press it down inside the other soda bottle as far as you can get it. This forms a tight seal and no glue is required to hold them together.
Optional: You can paint your soda bottle a different color if you choose. I tried painting one and it took about 3 coats for the acrylic paint to adhere well, so we opted to go without it painted to make it easier.
3. Cut out all needed pieces
Get your pieces ready to assemble your owl: Cut three strips from your scrapbook paper that are about 5 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches and then cut slits along the bottom of all three strips to resemble little feathers. Also use your 2-inch circle punch to cut out 2 circles from your white cardstock paper, and your 1 1/2-inch circle scallop punch to cut out 2 circles from your black cardstock paper. Trace your child’s hands on your colored cardstock paper and cut them out, and lastly, cut a beak out of your yellow cardstock paper. (see picture below of all the pieces)
4. Glue strips to the bottle
Start assembling your owl by gluing your 3 frayed strips one on top of another onto your soda bottles with your tacky glue. Start with the bottom strip and then overlap each strip going up the bottle.
5. Add eyes & beak
Next glue the scalloped circles onto your white circles. Glue your eyes and beak onto your soda bottle.
6. Glue wings
Finish your owl by gluing your child’s handprints onto the sides of the owl. You can see in the picture above how I positioned the hands at an angle.
The little ridges at the top of the owl make for perfect little owl ears! My daughter and I just love our little owl and the addition of the handprint wings makes it extra special!
