Cereal Box Bird

This is Fawkes, a cereal box bird made by PCJL of my Crafty Girls. While my crappy photography does not do it justice, you can still get a sense of how meticulous PCJL is. She chose each cereal box "feather" based on color and spent a better part of an hour glueing each one to the bird's body. It now hangs from the ceiling of her bedroom, attached to a sock eye screw by a string, and slowly turning every so often. I'm usually not one to make a craft just because it's pretty to look at. (I want function, too, darnit!) But this is certainly one craft that makes all the kids "ohh" and "ahh." I like to think it's more art than craft, especially when someone like PCJL gets her hands on it.

MATERIALS: 1 cereal box, undone at the seams; 2 cereal boxes, cut up into 1" diamond-shaped pieces; white glue;  string 

TOOLS: pencil, scissors, bone folder

TIP: use a paper cutter to cut up the 1-inch diamond shaped pieces. It'll save your hands--and your sanity!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the undone cereal box on your work table so the folds of each panel are vertical.  There should be two wide and two skinny panels. Cut off the outer skinny panel. Fold the box in half vertical at the middle skinny panel. 

2. Place the folded box on your work table with the folded edge at the top. From the upper left corner, draw a rounded diagonal line  down toward the middle of the bottom edge. Cut along this line UNTIL YOU GET TO THE FOLD BEFORE THE BOTTOM EDGE. Then cut horizontally along this fold until you get to the right edge. Remove the excess pieces of the box. Be sure to cut through both layers of the box. Set aside the excess pieces of cardboard.

3. Open box and lay down with the unprinted side facing up. Then bend the piece sticking out at the right side at a diagonal and push the cardboard up. This is the neck. And now you have completed the base of the bird.

4. Take one of the excess pieces of cardboard and fold in half. Cut out a triangle with a base measuring at least 2 inches. This is the head. 

5. Glue the head to the neck of the body. You may need to trim the neck down if it's too long. Then start glueing the diamond-shaped pieces of cereal box to the wings. These are the feathers.

6. Attach the string to the spine of the base. Try to find the spot on the base where the bird is balanced by holding it up on one finger.

7. Tie the string to a beam or a sock eye screw and let the bird "fly."