Mini Owl Banner

 Last week I posted an owl craft I made with my kids which was completely off the cuff-I just cut a few pieces and tada-an owl was born and I was like, "wow, that is actually really cute-this would make an adorable mini owl."  And with that this mini owl idea was created. (please forgive the lesson that perfect lighting pictures-I made this on a rainy day and geez was the lighting ever bad for taking pictures).

Okay to begin you will need:

cardstock (I used 4x4 double sided pieces that I have-but yours can be any size)

glue dots

white cardstock

black marker

I didn't create a pattern because the imperfection of these makes them extra cute.  If you just can't do it on your own, send me a message and I will make you a pattern.
1. To make the body draw a shape that looks similar to this and cut it out:

To make the head you will need to draw a heart and cut it out.  I used double sided cardstock because it gives the head two different colors/patterns and I think it looks cool that way.  So I recommend using double sided paper for the head for sure.

You will create the head by turning the heart upside down and folding down the point like this:

But before you fold anything you will want to create and attach the eyes.  They are cut from white cardstock with the black pupil drawn in with marker.  Make sure you don't make the black part in the middle, kinda down towards the bottom and in to one side is better.

Attach the eyes with glue dots and then put on large glue dot in the center like so:

Fold down the point and you have created the owls head.  Now attach this to the top of the body (the flat part). 

 To make the feet I cut two small hearts from the scraps from the head and a 3rd larger heart to attach to the body (attach them with mini glue dots).

And now to meet the whole family: (they look a little grumpy but when have you ever seen an owl that looked super friendly?)

If you want to make these into a banner you will want to attach a hanger to each owl.  I made mine with a piece of ribbon folded in half and attached with glue dots.

Now I will show you how I attached these to a piece of twine:
1st: string on the last owl onto the piece of twine so it is near the end

2nd: bring the twine around and under itself

3rd: then around and over and under itself again (no it's not just like a "normal" knot-this allows the twine to lay the right way and not make everything all twisty).

And there you have it: a cute banner to use as a decoration in a babies room, or for a baby shower, a birthday party, Valentines Day or even a banner of owls made with fall colors would make a great fall decoration.

Hoo doesn't love adorable owls?

Owl Treats-Owl Birthday Week Day 5

No actual pictures from me today as I am busy making these

 and these

Both are the last of my owl creations before the big party.  I will post pictures of the event in a couple of days and pictures of my sweeties in their Halloween costumes-you will not want to miss those.

Hoo's Hiding -Owl Birthday Week Day 4

For my pumpkins birthday party I wanted to do a hidden owls type game.  I had originally thought about sewing a bunch of small owls but when I started that project I instantly realized it would be way more work than it was worth.  So after some trial and error I came up with these: mini paper bag hoots.

They are made from a regular lunch sack paper bag only cut down about 3-4 inches at an angle (to form a point).  I fused some fabric to the front for the belly (using heavy duty Wonder Under) then I stuffed the bag with a piece of newspaper.  I folded the top of the bag over and stapled it to form the head of the owl.

 Then I added eyes and a beak.  I love how these look like they have so much attitude.  They were so quick and easy to make (and would be even faster if you had a circle punch or two to help). 

 I think I made a least a dozen.  The plan is to hide them all over the backyard for the littler kids to find.  They can keep one if they want or we can just hide them again and play again.  The game is meant for little kids (under age 3) so these won't be terribly hard to find but they are kind of sneaky.

See what I mean.

Hoo's 2 Candy Bar Wrappers- Owl Birthday Week Day 3

I saw an idea kind of like this on a website or blog but it was for mini candy bars.  I wanted to use regular sized candy bars to have as take home gifts from the party.  I created my own pattern (after many attempts) and love the end result.
Here is what you will need:
scrapbook paper 8.5x11 Plus extras for the eyes, beak, heart and feet.
Double sided tape
Glue dots
black marker
mini ric rac (though this is for an embellishment so it is not 100% necessary)

Step 1: trace and cut out all the pieces using the pattern.

Step 2: Score along the designated lines to fold.  I learned this trick on a blog to use my paper cutter and a small bone folder to score things.  Helps keep a straight line without cutting all the way through.

Step 3: Place candy bar in the center of the wrapper.

Step 4: Put a piece of double sided tape on the candy bar first, fold over and stick one side of the wrapper, then put another piece of double sided tape along that edge and fold over the other side of the wrapper.

Step 5:  Draw in the pupils on the whites of the eyes.  Glue to the larger circles using a glue dot and adhere to the candy bar, as well as the beak.

Step 6: I used my Xyron sticker maker to turn these little pieces of ric rac into stickers and attached them in the middle.

Step 7: Add the heart (I used a foam glue dot so the heart would stand out) and the feet and he or she is ready to rock and roll (and look super cute doing so).

Now the only question I have is: can anyone help me come up with a thank you saying that has to do with owls?  I want to add a little tag that says thanks for coming to the party but I want to have it relate to owls.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Here is the pattern.  It may have to be enlarged slightly or you may have to cut a bit bigger-sometimes my patterns print smaller than they are supposed to be.  

owl candy bar wrapper

Hoo's 2 Shirt- Owl Birthday Week Day 2

You have to have a cute shirt to wear on your birthday-this is the one I made for my little pumpkin.  I included a copy of the pattern (sorry it is upside down).

hoos 2 shirt
hoos 2

Hoo's Turning 2- Owl Birthday Week Day 1

This little girl is turning 2 on Halloween and she is as spunky as can be.  She is also not into anything in particular except trying to be miss independent.  So when it came to birthday themes I had no idea what I was going to do this year.  Then as luck would have it I had to go to the dentist and what was sitting there on the coffee table in the waiting room but a Family Fun magazine with the cutest owl birthday cake ever.  If there is ever a plus to going to the dentist this was it for me.  The lights went on and I knew that we had to have an owl themed party.

This is the invitation for the party (well actually this is the box for the invite).  I got the idea from here but made mine larger.

 It holds the invite that I made on matte board that my uncle gave me.

 Aren't they darling?  I love this picture because the center owl seems to be saying, "stand back friends, the spot light is all mine."

Stay tuned this week for more fabulous owl birthday ideas.  My mom collected owls from before I was born-she was so ahead of her time.  The owl is totally the in thing right now.  I might just have to start a collection of my own.