Homemade decorations can be the best (and cheapest!) way to decorate for Christmas. These little birdies would make lovely presents too. Get the kids involved
with this easy project.
To make things even easier, we’ve made a printable template for you to use.
Print out a batch of templates. Each A4 template can be used to make two paper birds.
Start by dyeing the printed paper with Brusho Dye. Use any colours that you like. A little Brusho goes a long way – tap a few crystals into a palette or
jar and dilute with water until the desired shade is achieved.
Brush with dye all over the page. Mix and blend the colours as you go. Spritz and sprinkle the dye for different effects.
When the birds are made up, both sides of the paper will show so when one side is dry flip the paper and paint the other side.
Whilst the dye is drying, cut some stamps. MasterCut is easy to carve and cut into different shapes. Sketch some designs for a collection of stamps and
cut them out with a scalpel or craft knife. (This part is for adults only!)
Use a lino cutter to decorate the stamps. Simple lines will work very well for this project!
When the paper is dry fold it in half along the tail ends. Cut along this line to create two pairs of birds. Don’t cut along the birds’ bodies!
Fold along the birds’ bodies.
Use your stamps with Versacraft Ink Pads and decorate the birds.
Cut the folded birds out, leaving the fold along the body uncut.
Open the birds out and decorate the other side with stamps. Only the wings and tails of this side will show when the bird is made.
Fold the bird back in half. Fold one wing down.
Repeat with the other side.
Staple the two sides of the bird together at the head and the tail.
Use a needle and thread to hang up the birds. Roughly find the middle of each bird so that it will balance. You may need to press quite hard with the needle
if you’ve made the birds out of card so this is another adults-only job.
For this project you will need:
- Bird Template
- Brusho Dyes
- Paintbrush
- Palette
- MasterCut
- Lino Cutting Tools
- Scalpel or craft knife
- Versacraft Ink Pad
- Scissors
- Stapler
- Needle and thread