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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

paper bag owls

This Halloween decoration was inspired by my 15-month-old daughter's love of owls.  I made these owls during her afternoon nap, and surprised her when she woke up!  Elise helps me with most projects, but this one seemed more appropriate for a slightly older child. 


materials

  • paper bags (large owl is a leaf bag, small owls are gift bags with the handles cut off)
  • leaves
  • masking tape
  • paint/markers
  • glue
  • wall bumpers (large owl eyes)
  • ping pong balls (small owl eyes)
  • sharpie 
  • x-acto knife/scissors
  • orange card stock


  1. Fill bags with leaves, pressing down every so often to make compact.  (We live in a windy place, so I put large rocks in the bottoms of my bags first to keep them from blowing over.)
  2. Tape the top of the bag closed, shaping the sides into "ears."  I used painter's tape, but masking tape would be ideal.  (see above photo)
  3. If your bag has writing on it, you'll probably want to paint over it.  I used spray paint to paint the large owl I made from the leaf bag.  I didn't paint my small owls because I made them with plain bags.
  4. Use paint or markers to add details like feathers, wings, etc.   I used a black sharpie for the details on the white owl.  I used white paint on the other two owls.
  5. Draw pupils on wall bumper and ping pong ball eyes with a sharpie.  I used double-sided tape to attach wall bumper eyes to the large owl.  The ping pong ball eyes were a little trickier to attach.  First, I cut ping pong ball sized X's with an x-acto knife where I wanted the eyes to be on the owls.  Then, I applied glue to the backs of the ping pong balls and pressed them into the X's.  
  6. Cut triangles out of orange card stock for the beaks, folding down the center to add dimension.  Use glue to attach beaks to the owls. 
  7. Done!  Give your finished owls a kiss - that's what Elise does.  ;)


Hoo Hoo's excited for Halloween?!?!!!!

5 comments:

  1. OMG Anne! I LOVE IT! So beautiful and so creative - I like it better than Halloween decoration! And you did that during nap time? Hats off to you!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Deb! Elise has been gifting me with some 2-3 hour afternoon naps lately - it is SO nice to have some extra time! ;)

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  2. LOVE the owls so much. If you'd just posted them a bit sooner.... lol no way I have time to make them now, will have to be a project for next year. Also love the Mama daughter pics. What a beautiful day you have there!!!
    Sometimes I meet bloggy friends that I just always wish we lived close because I know we would be such good friends and our babes would love to hang out together too!

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  3. Yes, I totally agree - we would be great real-life friends and our littles would have a blast together! Thanks for the kind words about the owls and the pics - Elise is such a squirm in photos lately! Ha! Hope you have a lovely weekend!

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  4. this is a great idea. I am an owl lover. I design and make owls. i find this to be very cute.

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