Spooky Owl on a Perch for Halloween
by
Marc Erick
15 Materials
2 Hours
Easy
Autumn is almost here and so is Halloween!! Admittedly my favorite time of the year! Love Love love it!! I started some spooky projects beginning with this owl on a perch. Not sure if I'd call him spooky really... turned out more cute than spooky 😊. I plan on making a few of them, in different poses, for my porch. It's a great project for the kiddos too!
Now, I did say my cost was $0 because I had everything needed from my crafting stash, however, if you needed to purchase some of the main items, you can find them at any dollar store .
We'll begin with the materials, you'll need:
Black foam board, preferably black core
Dowel rod, I used an old handle from a plunger...yup, I save everything 😊
Chain, I used bicycle lock chains which I already had
Two ping pong balls
Flat black spray paint
Two eye hooks
Bamboo skewers
Tacky glue
Embellishments, moss, squiggly eyes
Tools, Xacto knife, rotary tool, screwdriver, pen, tape, ruler
Owl template, I downloaded mine from Google images
We'll start with the chain. I removed the plastic coating using a craft knife, then popped the lock off of the chain using a screwdriver...the links opened easily. Set aside. Note: I used the bicycle lock chains simply because I already had them, you can use any chain you'd like... those hanging baskets with black chains you find at dollar tree would be perfect too!
Next we'll make the perch. If it's not the size you'd like, cut the dowel rod to the desired size, I cut mine to 15inches. Measure in two inches from each end and mark with a pen. Make sure to do this evenly, as this where we will place the eye hooks. Gently screw in the eye hooks where the marks are.
Now grab the ping pong balls from the kitty who's playing with them 😊 Place the ball against the end of the dowel and trace around. Using a craft knife, cut a hole, using the traced marks as a guide. If you traced correctly, the ball will fit snuggly over the end of the dowel! Repeat with the second ball.
And it's paint time! Attach the chains to each of the eye hooks, take outside and spray paint it using flat black paint. I did this by hanging it on the under side of my porch using pushpins... really made it easier!
While that is drying, let's make the owl...
Tape the owl template (there are so many to choose from on Google images) to the foam board. Trace the image, using a pen, making an outline on the foam board . Cut the image out, using the outline as a guide. After trying a few different types of knives, I found using an Xacto knife was the best, just be sure the blade is sharp.
Note about foam board... if possible use black core foam board, if not, you'll have to color the cut edges black with a sharpie.
Now we'll put it all together... drill two small holes in the top of the perch. As this is where the owl will be secured, make sure the holes are even with each other. The size of the holes should be about the same size as your wood skewers, mine were 7/16. Cut the skewers to an inch and a half or so and insert one end of them into the bottom of the owl. Be gentle and careful not to allow them to poke out ! As you can see, that almost happened to me...but no worries!, we're going to cover that up anyway 😊 Now insert the owl into the holes, you can add a drop of tacky glue if you'd like.
Now we'll add some embellishments to the little guy...
Glue Spanish moss to the perch, around his feet , and on the chain. Add some squiggly eyes and perhaps a little beak. I'm a pastry chef by trade, so I had a jar full of hard sugar eyes and shapes... so that's what I used!😊
Allow to dry and we're done! If you find that you're owl is a bit top heavy, fear not! Use a short length of floral wire, stick one end into the owl and attach the other end to the chain.
Add a little moss to hide if you'd like!
Spooky...or cute?
If you'd like just a silhouette, simply leave off the eyes!
I hope you are as excited for Halloween as I am! And I hope you enjoyed this little project! Thanks for viewing!🍁🕸🎃
Here are a couple owl images you can save and print if you'd like 😊
Comments
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3 of 5 comments
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Oh this is so perfect for Halloween!
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Oh Marc he/she? so cute. Definitely not scary and love how you softened the chain up with moss. It adds so much interest
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