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Animal Portrait Craft with Egg Cartons
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How to Make Egg Carton Animal Portraits

Turn recycled materials into adorable egg carton animal portraits with just a few basic supplies! Kids and adults will love creating fun and silly animals that are ready for display.
Active Time20 minutes
Drying Time20 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Yield: 1 egg carton animal portrait
Author: Debbie Chapman
Cost: $1

Equipment

Materials

Instructions

Step 1: Find what you need

  • Gather your supplies and materials.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-Supplies

Step 2: Cut parts from an egg carton

  • Cut an egg carton, removing one of the cup parts. You can use a craft knife or scissors.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-1
  • Trim the cup part down, creating a "bowl" shape with even edges.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-2
  • Then use some of the scrap carton that you just cut off to make ears for your animal. They may be pointed or rounded, depending on which animal you make.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-3

Step 3: Paint the animal's head

  • Paint the egg carton your animal's base colour. If you're adding features to the animal in a different colour, you don't have to paint the whole cup.
    Allow to dry and add a second coat, if needed.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-4
  • Use an accent colour of paint to add features to your animal. Here we used a deep orange to make a brow and nose line for our fox. Paint the ears as well and, again, allow to dry.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-5
  • Then use black paint to add a rounded nose to your animal.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-6

Step 4: Make the frame

  • Cut a piece of cardboard to be a frame for your animal portrait. Here we made a 3 by 4 inch rectangle, but you can also make a square or oval. Then use a paint pen to decorate the edge of the frame.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-7
  • Use acrylic paint to make a body for your animal. Here we made a green shirt.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-8

Step 5: Add details

  • Glue the head and ears of the animal onto the frame with tacky glue. Allow the glue to dry.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-9
  • Then attach self-adhesive googly eyes to the animal. If you don't have self-adhesive ones, tacky glue or hot glue will work to connect them.
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-10
  • Finally, use another paint pen in a complementary colour or shade to add details to the outfit, like a collar or a pattern on the "material".
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-11
  • Your egg carton animal portrait is complete!
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-12
  • Change up colours and ear shapes to make all kinds of different egg carton animal portraits!
    Egg-Carton-Animal-Portraits-13

Video

Notes

Looking for more cute animal crafts? Here's a few of our favourites:
How to Make a Clay Bunny
Sheep Bean Art
Paper Roll Cat