Friday, August 2, 2013

Burlap Owls


Mr & Mrs Who

I'm sure all of you have fallen in love with something you discovered at a linky party and wanted to make.  That's what happened to me. I saw a picture of "Two Burlap Southern Owls" at Kathy's Bouquet of Talent Linky Party here
The owls were posted by JP of Sweet Inspirations here.

 We all love owls. They are so cute and intriguing. And JP presented some awesome pictures of these cuties from all angles.  Lucky for me she had gotten them on a shopping trip but I'm sure if she wanted to make them, like I did, she could lovingly make a precious little set that would be available in her shop. She's a designer so check out her blog for wonderful inspirations.

The owls were quite easy to put together but with drying time they had to be done over a few days. My owls, which look a little different from JP's, are made out of burlap, jute twine, yarn, cardboard, acrylic paint, wire and paper mache.   You probably have everything you need to make these cute, adorable owls.  Everything, that is, except the eyes, which can be purchased at AC Moore (large) or Hobby Lobby (small).



I started by making a papermache oval ball. You can get the directions on making the paper mache glue and clay here.

Briefly, this is what I did:
Crushed together newpapers into a ball.
Put ball into a plastic grocery bag, twisting until tight and sealed with masking tape.
Secured with additional tape
Using paper mache glue strips, competely covered the ball with several layers.
After drying, covered the paper mache strip balls with paper mache clay.
Put in a 175 degree oven til dry.
Painted half of the balls and let dry
Finished painting entire balls
Cut out strips of burlap and added mod podge to the balls and burlap
 Completely covered the balls with burlap and mod podge.
Not an entirely smooth covering. I had to cut slits in the burlap to wrap around the contours of the balls so that the fabric would lay flat.



Now that I have my burlap body, I decided to add  the eyebrow or what's called the supercilium.
If you look at a picture of a real owl, you will notice this triangular shape.  I drew it on cardboard and cut it out. It will go above the eyes.  The "eyes" will fit perfectly around the curves.

 I painted the brows tan.
And covered them with strips of jute twine

I didn't take a picture of the finished brows but you'll see them when I add the eyes which I'll show you next.

Making the eyes is very similar to making pom poms. I wanted to emphasize their beauty so I used two different types of yarn. One fluffier than the other.

Wrapped a tube (from aluminum foil) with yarn about five inches wide over a length of yarn to tie.
 Cut the loops to form a flat pom.
 Wrapped a marker tube with the mixed yarn (about four inches) in the same manner to make a smaller pom.
 This is how the tied pom looked before cutting the loops.
Placed the smaller flat pom on top of the larger pom and inserted the prong of the eye into the small openings and closed with the backing of the eye (shown).
Glued the eyes in place.
Once the eyes were in place, I made bills from left over paper mache clay. I forgot to take pictures of this but I just rolled a little piece of clay in the palm of my hand, cut it in half and made a small curvature of the pieces.  After drying, I painted them black. Once the paint was dry I glued the bills on the tip of the brow, below the eyes.


The owls were really coming together at this point, but I was so undecided on how I would do the wings or what is called coverts on owls.  JP's owls had what looked like small jute twine swirled or crochet in a decorative pattern.  I thought about gluing pinecone scales (too tedious) or fringing burlap (not sure how that would work) and in the end, decided to use some tp cardboard shapes I had cut out for a project I never used. 

Coating burlap with mod podge, I pressed the cardboard cutouts on the fabric and cut them out after drying.

Once cut out, they (coverts) were glued to the side of the owls.


Next came the legs and claws.  I cut six pieces of wire from a clothes hanger for each owl and wrapped the wires with jute twine and glue. Using  flat nose pliers, I curved the ends and wrapped three together to look like claws.

This is how the owls look with the claws in place.  Cute, cute, cute!

Once the claws were in place, I added the tails which were made in a similar manner as the wings, only longer. Photographing the tails proved difficult after I glued them to the tree limb.
The owls are finally completed.  How adorable!










                                                              Mr. & Mrs Who

Perched in a tree  .   .  . they sit, surveying the land, indulging in a bit of prowling or maybe just sightseeing.     Cute as can be!

Thanks JP for the sweet inspiration!


Take a little time to enjoy!












Linking to these fabulous parties:
Mellywoods Mansion for Raising Imperfections Party ,  By Stephanielynn  for the Sunday Showcase Party ,  The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday ,  VMG206 for DIY Sunday Showcase , Sewing Barefoot for The Weekly Creative, Alderberry Hill for Make the Scene Monday , Clairejustineoxox for Creative Mondays ,  Craft and Repeat for On Display Monday Link Party ,  The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday , Feeding Big and more for In and Out of the Kitchen Monday ,  I Should be Mopping the Floor for Mopping It Up Monday ,  Making the World Cuter for Making the World Cuter Monday , Newlywed Pilgrimage for Moonlight Mason Jars linky party Monday Night ,  So Much Better with Age for Give Me The Goods Party ,  Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , Home Coming for DIY'ers , I Gotta Try That for Linky Party Monday,  Mod Vintage Life for Mod Mix Monday , Pursuit of Funtional Home for Monday Hop , One More Time for Share It One More Time , Twelve O Eight for Pretty Things Linky Party Monday , Todays Creative Blog for Get Your Craft On ,  Be Betsy for Brag About It Tuesday , DIY Dreamer for From Dream to Reality , Flusterbuster for Creative Muster  Tuesday ,  Kathe With A E for You're Gonna Love It Tuesday ,    The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for  Tabletop Inspire Me Tuesday , Cedar Hill Ranch for The Scoop on Tuesdays ,Homework for Inspiration Board Tuesday , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures , Romance on a Dime for Take on Tuesday , Debbiedoos for Tuesdays Top Talent Pinterest Party ,  Hickory Trail for Assets and Efforts ,  Hope In Every Season for Make,Bake,Create , VMg206 for Brag About It Tuesday , Love Grows Wild for Time to Sparkle , The Blissful Bee for Work It Wednesday ,  Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home ,   Eclectic Red Barn for The Pinterest Power PartyPrimp for Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays , Ginger Snap Crafts for Wow Me Wednesdays ,  
Life With the CrustCutOff for Two Girls and a LinkUp ,  Pink Recipe Box for Creative Wednesdays ,   Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays ,The Shady Porch for Rock and Share Wednesdays , The Taylor House for Pinterest Power Party Wednesday ,  We Like To Learn As We Go for What I Learned Wednesday ,  DIY by Design for Swing into Spring , All Things With a Purpose for Thursday Link Up , Krafty Cards,Etc. for Krafty Inspirations Thursday ,   CSI Project for Challenge of the Week Thursday , Dysfunction Junction for Linkin With My Ladies Thursday ,  I Gotta Create for Wildly Original Linky Party The Frugal Girls for Chic and Crafty Party ,  Glued To My Crafts for Thursdays Obsessions , Lamberts Lately for Create It Thursday , Katherine's Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop ,  A Peek Into My Paradise for TGIF Link Party ,  The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays , Marigold's Loft for Tutorial Thursdays ,  My Fashion Forward Blog for All Things Pretty ,  No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays , Posed Perfection for All Things Thursday ,  Sparkles and a Stove for All Things Pretty Thursday ,  Stone Gable for Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits on Thursdays , Chic on a Shoestring Decorating for Flaunt It Friday , The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday . Happy Go Lucky for Shine on Fridays ,  Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Friday ,     My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday , French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday ,  Diana's Rambles for Pin Me Linky Friday 504 Main for Tickled Pink Fridays , Happy Go Lucky for Shine on Friday , Happy Hour Projects for Happy Hour Friday , Rooted in Thyme for Simple & Sweet Fridays , See Vanessa Craft for do something crafty Friday ,  Shaken Together for What's Shakin' Friday ,   Whipperberry for Friday Fair Link Party ,  DIY Showoff for That DIY Party ,   Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special, Love of Family & Home for Inspire Me Please Weekend , A Bouquet of Talent for Life on Lake Shore Drive on Saturdays , Classy Clutter for Spotlight Saturday , Crafts a la Mode for What To Do Weekends , Debbiedoo's  for Get Blitzed on Pinterest , It's Overflowing for Share Your Creativity Saturday ,  Just Us Four for Pinworthy Projects Party Friday , Mommifried for Ladies Only Blog Share Link Party , My Snippets of Inspiration for Pin It Saturday ,  Natasha in Oz for #Say Gday Saturday Linky Party , One More Time for Share It One More Time Saturday ,  Serenity You for Serenity Saturday , Tutus & Tea Parties for a Pinteresting Party Saturday








41 comments:

  1. Gail...you did a magnificent job on re-creating two adorable versions of my owls. Thank you for including a link to my post and for the lovely compliments!
    I will be adding a link in the original post and in my "Where I Have Been Featured" page. I hope that you get lots of views and new followers from your great project and I have "no doubt" that you will!
    With Sincere Appreciation,
    JP

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  2. Love the up cycle use of paper and plastic bag! You're so creative. I just love burlap crafts!

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  3. Oh my gosh Gail, your owls are amazing! Right down to their fabulously created little feet. Love everything about them!!

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  4. I LOVE these adorable owls. Your ideas to recreate them were so clever. Great job!

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  5. Gail, those are adorable....I can just see them on one of your fall tablescapes...you did a fantastic job!

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  6. Wow - these are fantastic - so much work but they came out adorable. Great job! I am pinning!

    Sue
    www.bebeandj.com

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  7. Adorable! Wow, you did a great job, lots of work, but they are adorable. I just bought a red ceramic owl at Marshall's today (clearance, yay!), but could definitely use a couple of friends! :)

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  8. What a hoot! An adorable pair of crafty owls. Love that you used up things in your stash and created something very impressive.

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  9. They are adorable - love them - so creative... found you through Life at Lakeshore Drive....

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  10. These are DARLING!! Love them so much. Thanks for showing exactly how you made them. Your friend, Linda

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  11. WOW!!! Your Mr.& MRs. Who are so ADORABLE! This is na amazing project with a fabulous tutorial! Thanks so much for sharing!
    Have a nice weekend!
    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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  12. These are toooooo ADORABLE!!!!! I'll be pinning this one!! Thanks for linking up with us!!!!

    Shelly

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  13. Those are too cute! Thanks for sharing how you made them. Maybe, just maybe I'll find time to make one. :)

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  14. Oh, my, Gail! These are absolutely charming! Great job!

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  15. I love burlap and owls what a great combo. This looks awesome!!! I would love it if you would link up at our first linky party this Wednesday :
    http://thekoenigscreate.blogspot.com/

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  16. So cute! I'd love for you to link up to The DIY'ers! http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-diyers-and-my-new-rug.html

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  17. These are just the cutest owls I've ever seen! Thanks so much for the great tutorial! Pinning this one to my owl board!

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  18. Those are so adorable Gail! Thanks for linking to my Pin Me Linky Party.

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  19. Way to be on the cute owl trend! These are too fun! Thanks for sharing at Pinworthy Projects.

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  20. Oh my goodness...how cute are these little guys? I love your take on the whole "put an owl on it" trend. The burlap is perfect!

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  21. Oh my word, these are so cute and so fun. I love it. Such a creative idea. Thanks so much for linking to Inspire me. Hugs, Marty

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  22. Love these! So cute, thanks for linking up to Make Bake Create!

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  23. They are so cute, love those big eyes! I am amazed how you have re-created something you have only seen the pictures!

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  24. These are absolutely adorable!! You come up with the cutest things!
    Jenna

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  25. Gail, these are absolutely adorable!! You never cease to awe me!! I am featuring your gorgeous owls in the morning at Pick of the Bunch! So happy to be back to my regualer schedule. I've missed visiting with my friends. :)

    Thanks so much for sharing at A Bouquet of Talent!!
    XOXO
    Kathy

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  26. I do love owls and yours are absolutely wonderful. Thanks for the great tutorial. I pinned it for future use.

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  27. I highlighted this post on my blog tonight http://www.thestylesisters.blogspot.com/2013/08/centerpiece-wednesday-88.html
    Karin :)

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  28. Oh my goodness Gail! These are the cutest things! I think they would make great Halloween decorations and you know that is right around the corner!! Awesome project and a great knock-off!

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  29. GORGEOUS!! You're so talented, I love your blog, thank you for sharing xx

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  30. These owls are simply the cutest! You really have the knack! I'm gonna tweet and pin this. Have a lovely day!

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  31. Your owl is THE CUTEST. I love it!!
    Cecilia

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  32. These are amazing! You are really an awesome crafter, Gail! Thanks for sharing your technique!

    ~Abby =)

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