Upcycled Menagerie

Craft How-To File

What We’re Making:

If we owned the zoo…we’d fill it with these adorable upcycled critters!

Original Craft Source

• Kids’ Craft: Pipe Cleaner Monkeys! – Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls (frugalfun4boys.com)
• Adorable Egg Carton Turtle Craft (And a Caterpillar and Frog too!) – Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls (frugalfun4boys.com)

Elevator Pitch:

Join the Motley Kids for a little creature creation! We’ll turn egg cartons and pipe cleaners into a while menagerie worth of creatures!

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How to Make It:

Caterpillars

1. Cut a row of cups from your egg carton. Trim the bottoms off to make it flat if you need to.
2. Paint your critter (use acrylic paints if you are using Styrofoam cartons)
3. Use a toothpick to poke antenna holes in the front of your critter. Thread a half pipe cleaner through the holes and curl your antennae
4. Add googly eyes, jewels, and any other bling (remember: glue doesn’t stick to wet paint)!

Frogs, Turtles, and Other Critters

1. Cut a single cup from your egg carton and trim the bottom to make it flat
2. Paint your cup (use acrylic paints if you are using Styrofoam cartons)
3. Make some feet:
   1. Cut some feet from construction paper and glue them on the inside of the carton
   2. Cut a pipe cleaner into quarters and fold them into feet, glue to the inside of the carton
4. Add a pompom head or a pipe cleaner tail if you like
5. Add googly eyes, jewels, and bling

Pipe Cleaner Critters

1. Take 3 pipe cleaners and twist them all together in the middle.
2. Thread a large bead onto the middle of the pipe cleaners. This is your critter’s body.
3. For legs: Fold 2 of the top pipe cleaners in half and tuck the sharp ends into the bead. Do the same with 2 of the bottom pipe cleaners.
4. Make feet by twisting most of the pipe cleaner together and leaving a loop at the bottom.
5. If you want a tail, take the third bottom pipe cleaner, fold and twist like you did for the feet.
6. If you don’t want a tail, cut off all but about an inch of the third bottom pipe cleaner and then fold it twice and tuck it into the bead (this helps hold the bead in place)
7. For a head:
   1. Take the third top pipe cleaner, fold it in half (don’t twist), and tuck it into the top of the bead.
   2. Slide a smaller bead onto that pipe cleaner. A bunch will stick out.
   3. Fold the part that sticks out in half and tuck into the top of the head. There will be a shorter bit sticking out now.
   4. Make ears by folding loops from the sticking out part or fold it down for hair. Trim if needed.
8. Glue on some googly eyes and give your critter a face

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