Paper Felt Owl Tutorial

It's time for another exciting installment of craft tutorials! This time, we'll be making a paper owl ornament!

You'll need the following materials:

1. Cardstock in 3 colours: beak, body, wings
2. Sharpie marker
3. Fine ink marker
4. Double-sided tape
5. Regular tape
6. Thin ribbon for hanging

First, choose your 3 cardstock colours. The owl in this tutorial is based on the watercolour Felt Owls made by me! They have yellow beaks, brown bodies, and greenish wings, but you can choose any colours you like!
First, draw an owl body on your body cardstock with a Sharpie marker. The size depends on how big you want your ornament to be. Note that the top of the owl is more narrow than the base. You do not need to be perfect with the shape. Owls come in all sizes and shapes, and the more irregular it is, the more handmade it looks - which is ideal.
Fold your cardstock in half, and cut two out at once so that they are the same size and shape.
Cut a big triangle out of your beak cardstock and place it on top of your owl body shape. Shape it to how you like, and how long you want it to come down on the body.
Hold it in place, turn it over with the body, and mark where the triangle will end. Trim off the excess beak.
Outline the beak shape with a sharpie marker so that it has the same black outline as the body.
Paste the beak to the body shape using double-sided tape. I use double-sided tape instead of glue because I don't need drying time, and it won't wrinkle up. You can use glue stick instead too.
Draw the eyes using a Sharpie marker. Mine are closed for a peaceful, night-flying owl.
Use a fine ink pen to add details like stitching on the beak and a row of eyelets on the bottom as trim.
Place your owl on top of your wing cardstock and draw out a wing shape to the size you want with a Sharpie marker. Make sure to leave extra wing/paper for you to attach the wing to the owl.
Fold your cardstock over and cut out two wings at the same time.
Outline the second wing with a Sharpie marker to give it the same black outline as the other wing. Note how room has been left to tape the wing to the owl body.
Tape the wings to the owl body. Make sure the oulined sides are facing the front.
Now draw a foot for the owl. Draw the foot longer than you need so that you have room to attach it to the owl body.
Fold the cardstock in half and cut out two feet at the same time. Outline the second foot with a Sharpie marker to match the first one.
Tape the feet to the owl body. Make sure the outlined sides are facing the front.
Now, securely tape on a thin loop of ribbon. This is for hanging up your owl ornament.
Cover the back of your remaining owl body with double-sided tape.
Press it to your owl ornament so that the backing looks nice (no taped wings and feet showing anymore).
Sign your work! Tell them it's handmade by you, and add some decorative designs.
All done! Now your paper owl is ready for gift-giving or hanging around your house.

This would be a great project for handmade Christmas tree ornaments, or something nice to send to a friend (or Grandma!).

Don't forget to post photos of your finished work on the Flickr page here.

Happy Crafting!