Owl paper collage

As many of you know we had fun recently making an owl quilt for my daughter's Birthday party so when we were asked to make decorations for a teacher's upcoming retirement party with the theme of owls, we were very keen to help!

I made up several different designs by drawing very simple patterns on thick paper and then tracing the templates onto patterned paper and cutting them out.  These 12x12" collages will be used as samples to show the students a few possibilities and get them thinking about how to make their own version of an owl. 

The party is around Hallowe'en so for the owl above I thought I'd used shades of orange, black and brown patterned papers to give the owl a bit of a spooky {but friendly} look.

This design is flirty and fun and works well with bright patterns.  Wood grain paper works really well as a background.

My daughter made this owl in her favourite shades of turquoise and pink.  The pattern I made suggested stick legs for this fellow but I love how she made 6 "beaks" and made them into talons!

To give you an idea how different papers and pattern placement can change the look, here is one that I made with the same pattern. (and yes, I copied her talons!)

With this owl I started with the floral patterned paper and chose different polka dot papers in coordinating colours to use for the wings, tummy and background.  My daughter thought that it resembled fabric which gave me the idea to add hand drawn stitches around the edge of the papers so they look sewn on.  Working with another artist is a great way to come up with new ideas!

This fellow is made with solid coloured papers in an Eric Carle fashion.  The letters are cut from a rainbow coloured grid paper to coordinate with the colours used for the owl.

Owls are very "in" right now so this is a great activity for young children right up to tweens!  Keep the patterns simple so the cutting isn't too complicated and use any paper that you have on hand: recycled magazines, cardstock, glitter paper, handmade papers or even fabric can be used.  Embellishments of any kind can be used as well:  silk flowers, glitter, brads, eyelets, foam pads underneath to make the paper 3D, or even wires and beads can give your owl it's own style.  Using different shades and patterns really changes the look and feel of the collage, and eye placement can really give the owl personality.

Do you know anyone who loves owls?

~ joey ~ 
I have shared this post with the Link Up Hosts found on the right sidebar.
Please visit them to see what other creative ideas have been shared.