Dove Made From Spent Light Bulb

I like to create things from non-typical items. People often ask me how I come up with the ideas, and I've found that question difficult to answer. I suspect it's the same as asking a musician how they write a song.

So I had already planned that the next time I decided to create something, I would document the process, throw in a few of my thoughts, and let you walk with me behind the scenes, so to speak. This is the first of three crafts that I designed today. There will be two more posts like this, one on Saturday, and one on Monday. If you like the format of the post, let me know in the comments and I'll continue to do more. Otherwise, I'll just keep giving you the basics.

First, my inspiration. And this is the part I can't really explain. The picture below related to a light bulb in my mind.

I've had an interest in recycling spent light bulbs for some time. They're plentiful, free, and re-purposing keeps them out of the landfill.

It's rather ironic, don't you think, that I have a picture of a light bulb as I talk about my "idea."

But, yes, I started with a regular, old-fashioned light bulb, of which I have a pile.

I grabbed some paper from my recycling pile and cut out the shape of a tail, in proportion to the size of the light bulb.

I lightly glued the tail to the screw end of the light bulb.

Next, I cut out a pair of wings. I happened to do well on the shape and size of the wings and tail first time. I will occasionally redo to a step as I progress, but I find that I usually do best with my first impression. It's not good for me to over-think things.

I glued the wings to the sides of the bulb.

I knew the bird needed feet, and I found that it didn't want to set up properly without. So as I designed the feet, I decided to use them as a stand. I just cut two short strips of orange chenille stems and twisted them together.

I shaped them into feet. My first try was a little long so I just shortened the toes a bit.

I aligned the feet together, applied a little glue to the center, then set the bottom of the bird onto the glue.

The flat formation of the feet made it very stable.

Next, I needed a head. "Round" things are a little rare when it comes to supplies. I didn't want to use wood - it would set too high and the connection to the bulb would be too tiny, plus no way to hide the glue. I didn't want to use an ornament ball for the same reasons, plus I'd have a stem to deal with. I could have used a styrofoam ball, but I didn't have any, plus I think it might have looked cheap. I decided to use a white pom, because it was a good size, good shape, and not "hard," so hopefully it would resemble feathers a bit. I trimmed one side down a bit so I would get a tight connection when I glued it to the bulb.


Next, I used a piece of orange craft foam to form a beak, but orange felt worked well too. I didn't find this aspect of the craft to be all that important, so variances made little difference to me. Then I tried a couple of sets of eyes. I'm not a fan of google eyes unless I'm trying to do something silly, so these didn't appeal to me.

I also had some flat-sided google eyes, but I had a hard time getting them to set how I wanted on the tips of the pom.

Another idea that I think would work well is a small black bead, but since I didn't have any on hand, I opted for small black poms. I tried numerous positions (higher, lower, closer together, farther apart.) Once I decided upon the position, I spread out the pom to form an indent, so that I could inset the eyes a bit. I found that white glue worked best, since it gave me the option to adjust it, and do it without burning my fingers!

Then I placed the pom on the top of the dove. I found that the head can be placed in several different positions that look nice. One other position I really liked was with the head turned and the beak tucked in under the wing.

At this point, I evaluated to see if there was anything I needed to change, but I was pretty pleased! So I painted a light bulb white and started my official prototype.

I took off the wings and tail and used them as a template to cut wings and a tail out of white felt. I believe fleece would work well too, but I opted for felt since it tends to have a little more body.

I determined that white doves have pink feet, so I changed the chenille stem to pink.

I made two feet and positioned them.

Next, I glued them to the light bulb for the bottom.

As the light bulb would now sit stable, I knew where to glue on the tail.

I decided to add a small white satin bow to the tip of the tail to help hide the end of the felt.

I glued the wings to the sides, intentionally leaving the edges unsecured.

I put together the head and glued it to the top of the light bulb. Cute, but missing a little something. Some color, or some accent.... hmmmm....

I tried several things, like a red ribbon with a heart dangling, or a mini banner with the word "peace," but I ended up deciding on a simple clump of greenery and berries. Many of my decisions are made based upon what I have on hand.

I also had the idea, and think it would be great, to put a pink ribbon around her neck for breast cancer awareness.

So there you have it! From start to finish. Let me know if you give it a try, or any other ideas you might have to add.

Here is a version by Oddie at Gardenweb.com. She really did hers up! Gorgeous!
Check back Saturday for the second craft, and Monday for the third. And don't forget to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

If you liked this version of the tutorial, please leave a comment. These posts are quite a bit more work, but I'm willing to do it if it's "what the people want." And while you're at it, click to follow me too, please. I'm feeling rather lonely...

Enjoy!

Mini Glitter Snowman

Sweet, simple and the kids love it! I did one of these in a larger version a couple of years ago for our Christmas workshop and decided to do the same thing in a simpler version. I'm so glad I did because the kids went through 300 of them!

For materials, you will need:
1 - 1" glittered ball (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
1- red chenille stem
1 - white 1/2" wide white chenille stem
2 - 6mm google eyes
1 - 5mm orange pom
1 - 1/2" white pom
1 - 6-8" length of decorative string or ribbon
1 - optionally, a piece of cardstock or paper to make a cone for shaping the chenille)
For supplies, you will need scissors and glue (hot glue works best for our purposes, but white glue will work too.)

First, feed the string through the hanger of the ornament and tie into a loop for a hanger.

Form the piece of red chenille into a cone. If you are doing a number of these, it's best to create a cone shape from a piece of cardstock to use for shaping.

You should be able to use the whole piece of chenille, but if not, trim any extra from the top.

Next, place the formed chenille on top of the glittered ornament, feeding the string/hanger through the spiral. Glue the chenille in place on the top of the ornament.

Wrap the piece of white chenille around the base of the red chenille and glue in place.

Glue the white pom to the top of the spiral.

Position the eyes just below the rim of the hat and glue in place.

Glue the nose below the eyes.

I didn't include a mouth in my design, but there is a bit of room below the nose if you would prefer to add a mouth. I might suggest just using a marker, although it is a little difficult to write on the glitter.

That's it! Have fun and let me know what the kids think!

Be sure to check out all the other inspirational ideas at childmade.com!

Chip Clip Penguin

This guy was a dollar store cutie I did for last year's Christmas workshop. Check out the instructions here.

Snowman TREAT Bucket

What a fun way to display your candy treats! Get the instructions for this cool character here.


Looking for the sock snowman instructions?  Go here.

Super Simple Snowman Gift Bag

I went to a white elephant exchange once and brought my gift in a gold, Saxs Fifth Avenue bag. It was the first one picked. The gift was junk, but the bag was the clincher!

I thought I'd share a tutorial on a very simple snowman gift bag that I put together for a classroom party for the kindergarten class at my son's school. It's great for younger children because it uses just white glue and there's very little cutting required. And it's always fun to see what the finished snowman looks, having been done through the eyes of a 5yo.

For materials, you will need the following:
1 - 8" x 10" white gift bag
1 - 3-1/2" x 1-1/2" piece of orange felt or fleece
1 - 1" x 8" piece of red felt or fleece
1 - 1" x 5" piece of red felt or fleece
1 - 3/4" x 5" piece of black felt or fleece
2 - 1" black buttons
1 - sheet red tissue paper
For supplies, you will need white glue, scissors and optionally pinking shears.
(Sizes can be adjusted for different-sized gift bags.)

Begin by putting a stream of glue across the center of the bag and apply the long piece of red felt or fleece.

Next, use the scissors to snip both ends of the short piece of red felt or fleece to make fringe for the scarf.

Fold the short piece of felt or fleece in half and glue on top of the scarf.

Shape the piece of orange felt or fleece into a carrot-shaped nose. Pinking shears provide a nice edge to the shape.

Glue the nose to the face of the snowman.

Cut the strip of black felt or fleece into squares. You'll need 6 or 7 pieces.

Align the squares to make eyes and a mouth and glue in place.

Glue the buttons to the front of the snowman below the scarf.

Insert the tissue paper.

That's it! Now you have a cute snowman decorating your gift, so the fun will begin before the package is even opened.

Leave a comment if you have some ideas of your own.

Don't forget to check out all the other inspirational ideas at childmade.com!

Favor Bag Polar Bear

This guy was a hit at our Christmas workshop for kids big and small! Who could resist? And starting out with a pre-made favor bag made the rest of the project rather simple.

For materials, you will need:
1 - 5"-tall round-bottom favor bag (we got ours at Dollar Tree.)
1 - cuff from a man's large, white cotton work glove
1 - large handful of poly-fiberfil
1 - 8" x 3/4" length of red fleece
1 - 6" length of 1/8" red ribbon
2 - 1" x 1" piece of white felt
1 - 22mm black bear nose
2 - 5mm black poms or plastic eyes
1 - small decorative snowflake
1 - small rubberband
For supplies, you will need scissors, wire cutter, black Sharpie marker, and glue (hot glue worked best for us, but supervision is needed for smaller children.)

Begin by stuffing the favor bag firmly with fiberfil.

Use the drawstring to close the top. Tie in a knot and cut off the excess ribbon.

Gather the cut end of the glove cuff.

Secure tightly with a rubber band. Trim any raw edges to shape.

Place the cuff (hat) over the gathered end of the favor bag. Lightly glue in place,being careful to leave the bottom unglued to insert the scarf at a later step.

Fold the piece of red ribbon in half and glue the cut ends to the top of the cuff.

Draw up a portion of the cuff to cover the ends of the ribbon and glue in place. This is going to be the top of the polar bear.

Next, use the scissors to snip the ends of the piece of red fleece to form fringe for the scarf.

Tuck the folded end of the fleece into the glove cuff at the bottom (the opposite side as the ribbon.)
Use the black Sharpie marker to draw the mouth. This is basically an upside-down "Y".

Next, glue the bear nose to the front. If your nose has a button stem, use the wire cutters to cut off the stem closely to the button before gluing.

Next, trim the pieces of white felt into a circle. Pinch one side together and glue the pinch together.

Position the felt ears on top of the hat and glue in place. Glue the eyes to the polar bear's face.

Add the snowflake embelishment to the scarf.

That's it! Let me know what you think, especially if you have any ideas that might make it easier for the kids. This was a real hit simply because he's so adorable.

Be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at childmade.com!