It is good to be home again, and we are back to our usual fun crafty selves! Before I left for NYC, I had left a few paper towel rolls on the kitchen counter to be used for a some upcoming craft projects. Turns out, a certain someone (aka Mark) got a little too trigger happy with the recycling. No recyclable is safe from the crafty-afterlife at our house! Not to worry though, as we happened to be nearing the end of another roll by the time I got home, plus Mark did a great job keeping the house clean, the girls fed, and the cats from killing each other while I was gone. Yay for awesome husbands!! We turned the paper towel roll into this fun owl family play set……
Aren’t they adorable?? I couldn’t resist playing with them myself! In mind were these fun animals by matsutake. I cut the paper towel roll into different sized segments for Emily to paint. I love the bright colors she chose!
While the rolls were drying, we got to work on the scenery. I did the drawings, and she colored an inexpensive file folder (pack of 10 – $1) to make the scenery for the owls. We even did a day time scene and a night time scene.
Once the paint was dry, we folded the top of the tubes as shown to make the ears for the owls.
We added some googly eyes, (or you could draw on some eyes), a beak, and we used some glued-on scraps of fabric for wings.
Allow to dry completely (this was difficult, since Clara could barely keep her hands off of them) and play, play, play!!!
I love how both of the girls enjoy playing with these, and making up all sorts of stories about them!
Have fun!!
I added this post to:
Made by You Mondays @ Skip to My Lou
Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog
Works for Me Wednesday @ We are THAT Family
October 11th, 2010 on 9:43 am
Adorable! I will be collecting some cardboard rolls now!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:40 am
Great! Have fun!! xoxo
October 11th, 2010 on 10:08 am
Dear Valerie,
Nice hooters!
Love,
Mark
October 13th, 2010 on 10:42 am
You’ve been saving that one, haven’t you?
October 11th, 2010 on 12:21 pm
Very cute & fun to make!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:42 am
Thanks, Denise!
October 11th, 2010 on 1:14 pm
Love it – I would have never believed they are made out of cardboard rolls – amazing!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:43 am
The paint did a great job of disguising them. They are lots of fun!
October 11th, 2010 on 1:41 pm
so cute!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:43 am
October 11th, 2010 on 2:54 pm
Those are so cute, what a great idea. Who doesn’t like an owl!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:44 am
Owls are my favorite! Have fun!
October 11th, 2010 on 3:06 pm
OMG – these are ADORABLE!!!! Adding this to my list for next week!
Thanks for sharing!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:44 am
That makes me very happy!! Enjoy! xoxo
October 11th, 2010 on 3:36 pm
I LOVE these – I hope I can make them to look as cute as yours.
October 13th, 2010 on 10:44 am
You can do it!!
Have fun!
October 11th, 2010 on 3:55 pm
I had to explain to Jeff why I was laughing after reading Mark’s comment. Funny.
Love this idea, and I was looking at it thinking I could so make this.
October 13th, 2010 on 10:45 am
LOL He is so silly!!
Yes, yes, I know you can totally handle this — they are fun and easy to make!
October 11th, 2010 on 4:01 pm
Super extra cute!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:45 am
Thanks!!
October 11th, 2010 on 4:04 pm
Those really turned out cute! She picked the perfect colors.
October 13th, 2010 on 10:46 am
Thanks so much. I do love the colors she picked out! Tempera paint seemed to have the best coverage, but regular kids washable paint works well too. Have fun!
October 11th, 2010 on 4:29 pm
So cute! I am really impressed with Emily’s attention span, if she did all of the owls and the scenes in one day. I think I’d have to break it up into about 5 craft sessions. But they look worth it.
October 13th, 2010 on 10:47 am
Thanks, Lynn! She’s always had a long attention span, but there is nothing wrong with splitting this up into separate craft sessions. You’ll get a lot of mileage out of it that way! Have fun!!
October 11th, 2010 on 5:42 pm
Whoooooo made an awesome craft? You did!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:47 am
You crack me up!!
October 11th, 2010 on 6:49 pm
These are too cute. I have been saving a pile of tubes for “something”, and I think I’ve found it. Thanks for sharing!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:47 am
LOL I do that all the time too! Enjoy!!
October 11th, 2010 on 6:50 pm
Oh, they ARE so CUTE!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:48 am
Awww.. thanks, Phyllis!
October 11th, 2010 on 7:48 pm
Oh these are soooooo adorable! I will have to do these with my kids! they will love making such cute owls!
Thank you for sharing all your wonderful easy crafts! 
October 13th, 2010 on 10:48 am
You’re very welcome! Yes, yes, make up some cute owls with the kiddos — they are a lot of fun to make!
October 11th, 2010 on 7:53 pm
Adorable. When I saw the first picture, I assumed they were owls you sewed together. I can’t believe how cute they are!
Love Mark’s comment!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:51 am
No sewing for this one! I’m always amazed at how kids seem to enjoy the simplest of toys the most. So much fun!
October 11th, 2010 on 8:10 pm
This is such a cute craft! I have been saving up toliet paper rolls for some reason so this would be the perfect craft for us to do!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:51 am
Perfect!! Have fun crafting with Lu!!
October 11th, 2010 on 8:36 pm
I think this is one of the cutest ideas for owls I have ever seen!!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:52 am
Yay!!!
October 11th, 2010 on 9:11 pm
Oh my gosh. Those are so so cute! I would have sworn they were made out of fabric. They reminded me of some of the stuffies that Lisa at 5 orange potatoes makes.
October 13th, 2010 on 10:52 am
Oh, they do look a bit like Lisa’s stuffies — I love those! These are MUCH simpler to make. Have fun!!
October 11th, 2010 on 9:45 pm
These are adorable! I agree ~ love the bright colors. *Ü*
October 13th, 2010 on 10:53 am
October 11th, 2010 on 11:44 pm
What a seriously cute idea…my girls love to tell stories and would love something like this.
October 13th, 2010 on 10:53 am
Mine too! It is one of their favorite activities, and they could go on and on and on….. Have fun!
October 12th, 2010 on 8:45 am
I, too, thought they were fabric, just looking at the pictures. Great job!
If you gather up a family of 6 or 10, you could put some beans in the bottoms (tape them over?) and have an owl-bowling set.
And I think curbside recycling should be renamed “Curbside Art Supplies.”
October 13th, 2010 on 10:54 am
That is a GREAT idea!!!
And I love the phrase “Curbside Art Supplies” LOL!!
October 12th, 2010 on 8:56 am
Oh my gosh! These are soooo darn cute.
October 13th, 2010 on 10:54 am
Thanks, Shari!! So happy you stopped by!
October 12th, 2010 on 9:12 am
What do you do with all these lovely crafts you make? You can’t possibly keep them all. I took pictures of all the crafts we made in a year and made them into a book. I used mixbook. My older daughter looks at the book all the time!!!
~Jody
October 13th, 2010 on 10:56 am
Heavens no! We could never keep them all, but I do take photos of almost all of them, and organize them into books like you do, or sometimes calendars. Most of them go to the recycling bin when we’re done with them, but we do have a good amount of their artwork on display all around the house!! We have lots of it framed and I swap out the artwork to display on a regular basis. Oh, and we give plenty of projects to the grandparents too.
October 12th, 2010 on 9:30 am
This owl family is adorable!
October 13th, 2010 on 10:57 am
Thanks, Maryanne!!
October 12th, 2010 on 11:01 am
Aaah! Those are awesome! I’m so glad you and your daughter had fun making them! They really turned out cute. It totally makes me smile to post a tutorial and see someone actually make the craft and add their own personality to it.
Bravo!
xoxo
Katie
October 13th, 2010 on 10:57 am
We had a lot of fun with them! Thanks for the inspiration, Katie!!
October 12th, 2010 on 2:45 pm
oo very cute!!! Do you guys do one project everyday? Or just when you have an idea you want to try? Do some of your ideas turn out weird.. that definitely happens to me
October 13th, 2010 on 11:00 am
Usually we do at least one project every day, with the exception of sick days or something like that. Thankfully, sick days are a rare occurrence in this house. The girls and I really cherish the time spent together, and we’re always excited to find new uses for things. Yeah, I’ve had my share of weird projects LOL Mark can attest to that!
October 12th, 2010 on 4:28 pm
We made these today! If my camera worked I’d take a picture… thanks for saving my sanity this afternoon.
October 13th, 2010 on 11:01 am
Yay!!!! That makes me SO happy, Dara!!
October 12th, 2010 on 5:17 pm
Wow, that is awesome!
October 13th, 2010 on 11:01 am
Thanks, Anya!
October 12th, 2010 on 6:23 pm
That is a simple but very cute project. I’m guessing I could use toilet paper roles as well to make the owls?
Now maybe a couple spiders hanging from a web.
October 13th, 2010 on 11:02 am
Absolutely! Whatever cardboard rolls you have on-hand would work nicely. Love the spider idea!
October 13th, 2010 on 11:04 am
Ok, I have never really been a fan of TP roll crafts. But I LOVE this one! Totally cute, and what fun! I love the colors, love the creativity, love the whole thing. Well done.
October 21st, 2010 on 11:28 am
Thanks so much! We haven’t done much with them in the past either, but the girls really enjoyed this one. Have fun!
October 14th, 2010 on 11:03 am
Absolutely adorable!!! My kiddos are DEMANDING these owls TODAY!
I’ve been lurking and I just love your blog! I gotta add it back to my sidebar so I don’t forget! 
Thanks so much!
October 21st, 2010 on 11:29 am
Yay!!! So happy to hear that! And THANKS so much for the link — I really appreciate it! xoxo
October 15th, 2010 on 2:45 pm
Those are so cute!
October 21st, 2010 on 11:30 am
Stephanie!! So happy to see you again and hope you and the kiddos are doing well. Thanks so much for stopping by.
October 20th, 2010 on 12:55 am
What an adorable idea! I need to try that with the kids I babysit!! I started a new linky on Tuesdays where I feature a tutorial and then a linky for people to link up. Come by and add any projects you want!
October 21st, 2010 on 11:30 am
Great! And thanks for the heads-up on the linky party!!
October 20th, 2010 on 6:58 pm
These are absolutely adorable! My girls and I are nuts for owls, and I know they’ll enjoy making these! I’m going to share a link to your post on my FB fan page as well. I have a lot of reader with children that I know would love to do this project as well! So glad I found you through Diamonds For Dessert!
October 21st, 2010 on 11:31 am
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing the link on FB, and welcome to FFFB! So nice to “meet” you! xoxo
October 21st, 2010 on 11:07 am
Wow! These ARE cute! SOOO cute! I would have never guessed what they are. I’m adding this to my craft projects to-do list.
October 21st, 2010 on 11:32 am
Awesome!!
Have fun!!!
October 21st, 2010 on 7:13 pm
I made these with my 2 year old today! And by that I mean that she stayed with me long enough to slap some paint on one of the rolls and I did the rest. But she’s totally going to love them when she gets up from her nap.
How awesome.
Dude, I love your site. So many great do-able ideas
October 26th, 2010 on 9:53 pm
Yay!!! I’m SO happy to hear that, and I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying FFFB!
October 21st, 2010 on 7:13 pm
http://whiskeyjac.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/eeboo/
they turned out great! thanks so much for all the nice ideas
October 26th, 2010 on 9:53 pm
How CUTE!!!!!
October 22nd, 2010 on 12:13 am
OMGosh who would of thought those toilet paper holders would be so useful LOL> I LOVE EM’
October 26th, 2010 on 9:54 pm
We use TP rolls for all kinds of crafts! I consider them free art supplies.
October 22nd, 2010 on 3:12 pm
now that is just too cute
October 26th, 2010 on 9:54 pm
Thanks so much, Noelle!
October 24th, 2010 on 10:33 pm
LOVE! This was clearly a popular post.
October 26th, 2010 on 9:56 pm
October 27th, 2010 on 10:57 am
I made these today with my son. Very cute. He loves playing with them.
October 27th, 2010 on 10:58 am
Wonderful!!! That totally made my day!
October 29th, 2010 on 10:16 am
I’m going to do those this weekend. We recycle also, I hate when the hubby tosses something out I want to use.. grrr.
October 30th, 2010 on 2:54 pm
So adorable, just love your little TP owls! If you’d have a moment to drop by Craft Schooling Sunday and link to them, that would be so great! Hope to see you there, and all the best. Sara
February 4th, 2011 on 8:58 am
Many thanks for your idea.
Now new owl-family live in Moscow – http://ludmila-mama.livejournal.com/501281.html#cutid1
April 10th, 2011 on 7:37 pm
Love these — we are going to make them. I will post when they are done. Love your blog and ideas!
April 17th, 2011 on 10:24 pm
Those are adorable! What a great idea!
I’d love to have you share this at my For the Kids Link Party! Stop on by and join the fun!!
http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/04/for-kids-friday-7.html
June 20th, 2011 on 4:22 pm
Poor owls! Why didn’t they get their backs painted?