A little Birdie Told Me

So for my first official Blog Post I wanted to share a craft that I designed out of necessity. This year for Christmas I had just arrived in Australia, and all of my things from America had not made their way over. I had no crafting supplies, no tree, and no money. I decided that I would set myself a very small budget,and design my own ornaments and this is what came out. While I am fully aware that Christmas is officially over. I thought these birds would also make a nice mobile for a child's room or for decoration.


First, Here are the Supplies that you will need.
1. Some really awesome colors of paint. I used the NEW martha stewart paints that you can now buy at Michale's. 
2. Paint Brush
3. Package of Sewing Needles with Big Eyes
4. Styrofoam Balls, that you can purchase from most craft stores.
5. String
6. Pkg of feathers
7. Craft Glue
8. Empty egg carton works great for the drying process.
9. Little piece of yellow/off white felt or construction paper.
10. Permanent Marker


Next, You are going to paint the entire styrofoam ball. Some of my balls I choose to paint all one color and some I decided to paint the top half one color and the bottom half another color as you can see from the picture. This is also the time where you will want to insert your sewing needle. Decide which part is going to be the very top of your bird and insert your sewing needle, sharp side down. This is going to give us something to hold onto while we paint, and the eye of the needle will allow us to thread our string and have a way to hang out lil birdie.

 Now that your lil bird is painted and dried up side down in your empty egg carton, you are ready to add the feathers. Using a pen, poke two holes in the back where the back feathers will go. This makes it easier for the feathers to glide in and stay put.

Choose two feathers and push them into the holes that you just made with your pen. Your bird should now almost be ready to take flight.

Take two more feathers from your pack. Cut off the ends as shown. These are going to be used as the side wings.

Using your craft glue, put a small dot of glue on either side of your bird. Press on the feathers you just cut, gently. Let dry.

Finally you are ready to give your bird a bit of personality. Take your felt and cut out a small diamond shape. Using your craft glue, place your beak on your bird as shown in the picture. Next, draw on the eyes with your permanent marker. You can do a wide variety of different eyes. My husband did a couple that were pretty funny. And lastly, take a piece of string and thread it through the eye of the needle. Tie a knot at the top, and hang from a mobile or from a tree.

I hope that you have enjoyed my first tutorial. I plan to have many more as the blogging progresses.