Elephant statues for your walls, elephant magnets on your fridge, elephant throw pillows on the sofa – where will it all end? Never if you’re an elephant lover! You’ll never have enough of the adorable giants, will you? If you’re in the mood to see new elephants around your house don’t reach for the nearest catalog! Make new ones and you can display them on your mantle, desk or other area of your house. Why not have a family craft night where you and the kids can each make new elephant decor? Invest little but make cute elephants or spend a little more on supplies and create serious decor pieces that you’ll have for years to come.
Kids will have fun making an elephant that can hang on the fridge or on their bedroom door. Cut foam or paper hearts to create the unique elephants. Make them as large or as small as you want. Cut one heart which will become the head of the elephant. This heart should be slightly larger than the other hearts you cut. Cut two more hearts which will become the legs. These should match the paper design of the heart you cut for the head. On the same or different paper, cut two more hearts which will be the ears for the animal. In addition, cut a “j” shape for the trunk and a sliver-of-a-moon shape for the tail. To top off the trunk and tail cut two really small heart shapes.
Assemble the elephant by placing the large heart on a flat surface. Set it so that the point is facing down. Tape or glue one of the leg hearts, point side up, so that the point of it is just behind the point of the heart that makes the head. Behind that upside-down heart, place the second leg heart upside-down, so that only half of the heart can be seen behind the first set of legs. Tape or glue the “j” shape so that it covers up the point of the large heart. Glue it down the front of the heart that forms the first set of legs. Tape or glue one of the smallest hearts on the end of the curved “j” to form the trunk. Tape the tail shape to the backside of the heart that makes the back legs. Tape or glue the second little heart to the end to finish the tail. Glue the ears on so that the point of each heart is overlapping the side of the elephant’s head. The ears look especially cute if they’re done in a different color or pattern than the rest of the elephant. If you want to display this elephant on the fridge or other metal surface simply cut some strips of magnetic sheeting, from a craft store, and attach them to the back.
Cut an elephant picture from a coloring book or other source. Use this as a pattern to make a design on a vase, a basket, hamper, mirror, lamp, lampshade, cabinet or other object. You can tape the image to the object, draw around it with paint marker, and leave it like that. Or, you can allow the paint marker to dry then fill in the entire elephant shape with paint or marker.
If you’ve ever been to a craft store you know that most of them feature a huge variety of flat, wooden shapes. You’ll definitely find elephant shapes there! Purchase many of the inexpensive shapes and put them together to make a 3-dimensional elephant that you can proudly display. Paint each shape or purchase them already painted. Make the traditional gray elephant or make a more colorful version for a child. Paint each shape a different color to make a uniquely striped elephant. When the paint is completely dry simply glue one shape on top of the other. If needed, touch up the paint on the sides of the animal. This elephant can stand on its own and will look great on a mantle, shelf or cabinet.
Make a shelf elephant, large or small, by using Styrofoam. Use one large ball to make the body of the elephant. Paint it gray, and at the same time, paint four empty thread spools gray. Glue the large ball onto the four spools to create the legs and body. Glue a smaller, gray Styrofoam ball onto the large ball to make the head. Cut two small slabs of Styrofoam for the ears. You can shape these slabs by using sandpaper or an emery board. Styrofoam is very easy to sand file down to size. Cut a “j” shape from the Styrofoam to make the trunk.
Give almost anything an elephant theme by using those same shapes in a different manner. After painting them simply glue them on to any number of items: picture frames, lamps, baskets, hampers, plant pots, cornices, headboard, doors, drawer pulls and much more. The shapes come in a variety of sizes that allow you to choose how large or small you want the elephant accents to be. Give them more personality by adding inexpensive craft supplies. Use wiggly eyes or beads for eyes. Use tiny paper shapes to make “toenails” or the inside of the trunk. Use markers to make lines in the skin of the elephant.
Family craft night is a lot of fun, and on elephant night, it’s even better! You can have all sorts of new decor pieces if each person makes something different. Use things you have around the house to make the new elephants or invest a small amount of money in craft supplies to make something a little more substantial. Either way, you’ll have loads of fun, and you’ll get in touch with your creative side!
Reference:
- Purchase elephant shapes here: www.michaels.com
