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

16.12.22

Egg Carton Crafts for Christmas ebook


Egg carton crafts for Christmas

Who knew egg cartons could be so festive! But why not? They are brilliant to craft with because there's just so much you can do with them and they're easy to get hold of. This ebook will guide you through projects to transform egg cartons into a collection of unique decorations that are sure to brighten up any Christmas tree.

9.12.22

Egg Carton Christmas pudding decorations


How long has it been? Far too long. Once you slip out of the habit of posting, it's hard to find your way back sometimes! But Christmas seems a good time to try, so here's a 'sweet' little craft - egg carton Christmas puddings to hang on the tree.

21.5.21

Daffodil toilet paper roll posy

This is a slightly adapted version of the snowdrop posy - the only extra thing you'll need is some orange or yellow tissue paper.

1.5.21

Toilet paper roll flower posy - snowdrops

toilet paper roll snowdrops

Toilet paper rolls and egg cartons are brilliant for making flowers, there are so many flowery possibilities! These little posies are very similar to ones we've made before

29.10.20

Halloween egg carton crafts



...poor little thing! Didn't stand a chance.. 

But Halloween is definitely the time for crafts with a bit more shock value. 
And good to have an element of surprise, even if that spells bad news for the fly..

1.9.20

Egg carton Viking Longboat

egg carton craft

This is such an easy way to make a boat - all you need is an egg carton lid, and then when you've made the basic shape, you can turn it into any kind of sailboat or ship you want.

We've gone for a Viking longboat - some Asterix influence I think! And an abundance of lollypop sticks helped too... 

They do make great oars.

You will need:
A large egg carton (dozen box)
6 popsicle sticks
8 similar sized bottle tops (different colours is possible)
Sheet of plain A4 paper
Kebab stick
Some old modelling clay
Scissors
Craft glue
Strong glue (like UHU)
Paint
Red marker or felt tip pen
Black marker pen
Nail scissors (to be used by a grown up)

1. If there's paper on the lid top, remove as much of it as you can. Use a pencil to make two marks inside the lid, about 8cm/3in. from either end, and in the middle.


2. Cut out a long thinnish triangle up to your mark, at both ends.


3. You're really looking to cut away any bumpy, moulded cardboard bits that you often find at the ends of the egg carton lid (see below).


4. Next, carefully cut straight across the lid from the end of the triangle, right into the curvy edge. Do this on both sides and at both ends.



5. Then the fun bit, you simply tuck the pieces you've cut behind the central part of your boat (or in front, which ever works best), and pull the ends together, so they overlap and fit together. Trim if you want to neaten the overlap, but hopefully they should be a pretty snug fit.

You could use sticky tape, or use glue. A glue gun would be quick - we just used PVA craft glue and some clothes pegs (or paper clips) to hold it all in place while the glue dried.


6. For the raised ends of the boat, cut out an egg carton cone and neaten around the bottom edge, then cut in half, longways.


7. Flatten out the bottom part of the cut cone, and glue to the ends of the boat, so they sit high, above the boat edge. Press and mould to the curved shape of the bow and stern. Hold in place with pegs or paper clips while the glue dries.



8. For the dragon figurehead, cut out another egg carton cone and trim around the bottom edge so it's about 3cm/1in.  Draw a pencil line across one side, roughly a cm from the bottom edge, then join the ends of this line to the bottom corners below, with a diagonal line. Cut along the pencil line.



9. On the longer side, draw a V from one corner to the other and cut out.



10. You can draw the details on after painting, or cut out a mouth if you prefer. This is best done by an adult with small sharp scissors.

Brush glue inside the bottom part of the figurehead and glue to one end of the boat. Leave pointing up while it dries (use a peg or paper clip again) Then bend down into place when dry.


11. For the mast, cut out an egg carton cup and neaten around the edge so it sits flat. Make a very small hole on top in the middle, and place a ball of modelling clay underneath. Press the skewer stick through the hole and into the clay.  Don't glue the mast into the boat yet.



12. Paint the boat, mast and the six popsicle oars brown.

While they're drying, make the sail. Trim a piece of plain A4 paper so it's about 20cm/8in. by 25cm/10in. We drew red strips with a marker pen, but you can obviously paint or colour-in your sail anyway you like.

13. Make very small holes a few cms from the top and bottom of the sail, roughly in the middle (you don't want the holes to be too big or the sail won't stay up). When the paint is dry on the mast, slot the sail on.

14. For the flag, fold over a small piece of spare paper and cut out a long thin triangle shape.  Decorate and colour in as you like, then brush glue inside and wrap around the top of the mast.


While the glue is drying, bend the flag so it looks like it's flapping in the wind.



15. For the shields, decide where you want your bottle tops to go - we put four on each side - and lightly draw around them with a pencil on the sides of the boat.

In-between these, mark diagonal lines, where the 3 oars will go on each side. Pierce through the oar lines with something like nail scissors and cut along the slots (this should be done by an adult - placing an old piece of modelling clay behind the slot helps when you're piercing through the sides.) Push the oars into place.


16. Cut out thin strips of paper and glue crosses to the top of the bottle lids, before sticking them to the sides of the boat. Use stronger glue for this, like UHU, or a glue gun if you have one.

You can glue the mast down too, though the modelling clay will hopefully stop it from falling over.  Use a black marker pen to add details to the dragon figurehead.



18.7.20

Crabby the egg carton crab

egg carton crab
I'm a fan of these whole egg box crafts - they're simple and effective and there's space inside to store things too!

You will need:
An egg carton
Cereal box card or similar for legs, claws and eyes
Scissors
Glue
Sticky tape (optional)
White bottle tops or google eyes
Nail scissors or similar (to be used by an adult)
Black marker pen

1. Paint the top half of the egg carton orange (the lid) and some cereal box card too, for the legs, claws and eyes. You could paint the whole egg carton if you wanted to.


2. When the paint is dry, cut strips from the cereal box card - you will need 8 (...spot the mistake in the picture!) about one cm wide and 12cm long. Cut four circles too. We drew around the bottom of the paint bottle - you could use the bottom of a glass or beaker. The size of the circle will be the size of the claw, to help gauge what to use.


3. Cut a segment out of all four circles, roughly the same size. Keep two for the claws, then cut the other two in half - these will be the claw limbs. (See below)


4. To make the limbs for the claws,  overlap the two pieces and glue together. 


5. Glue the claws on and make sure they face in opposite directions. Leave to dry.


6. Fold the 8 leg strips in half, then unfold them, and attach inside the carton with glue or sticky tape. Leave them to dry sticking up in the air. When dry, bend them carefully over the edge of the box. PLEASE NOTE - the BACK of the box is going to be the front of the crab.


7. THEN, press along the fold you made halfway down the strips, so it looks like a leg joint.

Push the top part of the leg up. at a bit of a angle, and bend the lower part down - to make your crab look like it's scuttling!


8. The claws go at the back of the carton, where the lid and base join. Just cut this join a little on both sides so the claw limbs can slot in more easily. Brush glue behind these cuts and along the bottom edge, and slot into place.


9. For the eyes, cut two strips from some spare painted card, about 2cm wide and 6cm long. Mark with a pencil where you want the eyes to go on top.


10. Use the nail scissors to pierce a hole through the pencil line and cut a slot (to be done by an adult). Check the strips fit.


11. Either use googly eyes or draw black circles on white bottle tops with a marker pen (we used the lids from UHT milk cartons) Glue at the end of each strip.


23. Add a smile with the marker pen and Crabby is ready!

Why not make little crabs out of egg carton cups and pipe cleaners and pop them inside?



egg carton crafts

26.3.20

Egg carton turtle and babies - #stayathomecrafts


 Another craft that uses the whole egg carton, and makes a perfect home for the little turtle babies!

You will need:
2 egg cartons
Cereal box card
Craft glue
Paint
Black pen
Nail scissors (optional, to be used by an adult)

1. With green paint and a big brush, paint the outside of an egg carton, the cereal box card and the bottom of the egg cups from the second carton.


2. Squirt some red and some yellow paint on a plate or palette, and mix them in the middle to make orange, then have fun splodging on yellow and orange on your turtle and baby turtle's shells, and dab on a little red with finger tips. Messy and fun!
We got a bit carried away, so added a few more blobs of green on top, to break up the bright colours.



3. For the big turtle's head, cut a strip from the green card, about 4cm wide. Cut it so it's about 6cm long and round off one end.

4. For the back legs, cut a strip about 3cm wide, cut two pieces from either end of the strip, about 5cm long. and round off one end of each.

5. For the front flippers, use a decent sized cup or glass and draw around the rim. Cut out the circle and and cut the circle in half.



6. Cut away the middle part of the semi circle - use a pencil to draw this first, if it helps.


7.  Then round off one end of each flipper, but make sure you round OPPOSITE ends, so the flippers can go either side of the turtle's head.


8.  Glue the legs inside the carton at one end, on or near the corners.


9.  Use a black pen to draw the face on the head part, and either glue this in the middle of the other end and glue the flippers on top of it, or flippers first and head on top. Whatever's easier.

If the flipper doesn't go far enough down the side that's attached to the lid, cut the connecting card a little and slot the flipper in.


10. The baby turtles or turtlettes, are made in a very similar way. Cut out as many egg carton cups as you want. For a quick finish, cut a strip for the head, snip into 2cm lengths and round one end. Draw on a face. Either glue the end of the head piece inside the 'shell'. When dry fold into place, OR, make a hole in the side of the carton cup, about half way up (to be done by a adult - keep nail scissors closed, press down and twist from side to side. It helps if you put a piece of modelling clay behind where you're making the hole, so there's something to press into)

Once you've pierced through, make a slot for the head and push it into place.

These babies will look sweet as they are, but if you would like to add legs, cut a thin strip for the back legs, cut off small pieces, about 2cm long and round ends.

For the flippers, draw around something small, like a  thread spool or small spice jar - cut out the circle, and cut the circle in half. Cut away the middle of each semi circle and round one end of each, making sure they're opposite ends, and glue the ends under the turtle's shell. When dry, fold out.





When the babies get tired of swimming, they can always have a little rest under Mum's shell..