Simple crafts using recyclables/ETFM

I love doing crafts with my daughter.  Last week we saved an area in our playroom to store recyclable material that will be perfect for crafts.   I love having access to cardboard and other recyclable material on hand for impromptu craft time.  Having the material on a shelf allows my daughter to get excited to create fun projects with the materials we have collected.  ETFM (easy to find materials) are a great way to encourage art, without having to make it hard for you to think of something to do.
You can always do a search on Pinterest with the material you have and you will get many results on fun arts and crafts you can do. Even better, you can create something unique using your child's imagination.

 Have you read Not a Box, Beautiful Oops or The Dot?  These are all wonderful books about how you can take something ordinary and make it extraordinary.  A box, becomes a rocket ship.  A dot on a piece of paper becomes a work of art that not only makes a girl believe she can be an artist, but inspires another child who sees her work.  A mistake that may seem to ruin a picture, in fact makes it more beautiful, or creates something new and better than what was originally imagined.  All important messages to teach our children.  The wonderful lessons that can be passed on through art!

So today's post i will leave you with a fun and simple art project to get you started.  Collect those egg cartons, paper towel rolls, cardboard boxes, containers.  Don't forget to look outside for things that can be found in nature- rocks, twigs, sticks, pinecones and leaves as they can be used too.

This one requires an egg carton.  When you look at egg cartons you can see so many things that the shape resembles.  This particular craft demonstrates just that.

Here is a closeup picture?  What do you see?

Do you notice that it looks like a bird?  
If you don't, you soon will!

This is as simple as cutting out two of the circle shapes that hold the eggs and the cone separator together.  I found the easiest way to cut out was to cut around the two circles and half of the cone together. You cut out the other half of the cone separately and attach it on afterwards for an open beak.

Don't forget to make a hole for the eyes.

I used the inside circles as a guide of where to cut a whole for the eyes.  It worked perfectly.  Just use the blade of the scissors and keeping turning around until you get the desired hole in the middle,  perfect with scissors. 

Attach the other side of the beak to create an open mouth.

Paint the bird as you wish

Add a Popsicle stick for a handle.  We decorated ours with pipe cleaners, but plain popsicle stick or painted ones are fine.

We used feathers we found at the dollar store and attached them to the middle of the head.  You can get creative here with anything you want to use to decorate your bird.

Voila- a bird mask.  We even went outside for a bird watching walk.

I got the inspiration for this craft here