Paper Mache Goldfinch Bird

Paper mache Goldfinch Bird - From waste material into artwork!

Making craft with children is a fun learning activity. By using waste materials we can teach them the importance of reuse and the way to protect our environment.

This craft work was done by me with my hubby and our 5 year old kid for a school project. we found this activity to be an efficient way to spend quality time with family. The idea of making bird eggs with tissue paper and bugs with pistachio shells was suggested by my kid. He created the ladybugs, honey bees and caterpillar. He wanted me to include a butterfly life cycle in his bird project. You can spot few eggs, a cocoon, a caterpillar and few butterflies in this artwork.

It includes the following small craft works within this to make one complete project.

Paper mache bowl

Paper tree

Paper mache birds

Pistachio shell insects for butterfly life cycle

Paper roses

Used bottle flower

Homemade glue

Glue

Used Card board box

Plenty of Newspapers

Plastic /foam cups

Paper towels

Used pistachio shells

Acrylic and Poster paints

Paint Brushes

Dried grass clippings

Coconut coir

Disposable soft drinks bottles /water bottles

Plain sheets

Scissors

Sticky tape

Marker

Preparation of homemade glue:

Take half cup of all purpose flour. Gradually add water and mix without any lumps. Cook over low heat with constant stirring until a translucent paste is formed. This is the easiest and low cost glue for projects that involve pasting large quantities of paper like paper mache works or collages.

Making of the bowl:

Cut newspapers into small pieces.

Take a bowl (of any sturdy material) and hold it in upside down position. First dip few pieces of newspaper in water and stick on to the backside of the bowl to cover it completely. Repeat it twice. Allow the excess water to drain. Now apply a coat of glue over the paper layer and stick few more pieces of magazine to cover completely. Repeat the steps alternatively with glue and water. Finally finish with glue layer.

Allow it to dry completely.

Gently take out the paper bowl from the base bowl.

Now the paper bowl is ready. I used this to create the nest.

To make nest, coat the paper bowl with glue and stick dried grass clippings and coconut coir to it.

To make eggs, roll paper towels along with glue into oval shape to form eggs.

Allow it to dry and apply white color.

Take magazines and cut them into rectangular sheets.

Roll them into sticks and fix the end with glue.

Make many such newspaper sticks.

Make the bottom of the tree by rolling the paper sticks into concentric circles and apply glue on top of it to hold it in place.

Take 10 to 12 paper sticks and glue them together leaving the top space. Spread out the top to make them appear like branches.

Attach this to the circular bottom piece. A sticky tape can be used to hold this together.

Take plastic or foam or paper cups.

Arrange them by sticking together with glue and sticky tape to form a bird like shape(shown in figure).

Now take pieces of newspaper and follow the procedure earlier used in paper mache bowl making to form the shape of a bird. I used homemade glue and all purpose glue for this purpose.

Attach tail, wings, feet and beak made out of chart paper.

Allow it to dry completely.

Then color the bird using acrylic color.

Paint used pistachio shells to make different bugs and insects like ladybugs, bees, butterflies etc.

Caterpillar is made by sticking pistachio shells together.

Attach painted paper wings to a pistachio shell to make butterflies.

Cut the top portion of used pop/water bottle. Make some cuts vertically to make petals.

Color the flower with acrylic paints.

I made the water table and the bird feeder using newspaper sticks, used water bottle and plastic cup

All the above individual components were combined in a cardboard box to make a single project.

Take a big used cardboard box. Cover it with plain sheets of paper.

Draw the outlines to make pond and fix the tree.

Make a pond using acrylic color and border it with pistachio shells.

Fix the tree with the help of glue to the cardboard box.

Attach leaves to the branches (here I used artificial leaves).

Place the nest on top of it with the help of glue.

Stick few bugs in branches and leaves.

color the tree, pond and land area to complete the project.