A Happy Autumn Owl --

Thanks for stopping by the craft table! Today the table is covered in fall leaves! It's getting to be that time of the year again - I love fall -- everything about it, except that it is followed by my very least favorite season - snow season. Ugh. Anyway --- back to our owl friend ;)

This fun fall craft is completely made of items from the Dollar Tree, and my front yard! Below you'll find step by step pictures and instructions.

Start off by gathering the materials - again, all Dollar Tree items.

You will need:

• a felt owl cutout

• 3 to 4 packages of silk leaves

• 2 silk sunflowers

• a stick

• poster board or card board

• raffia

• a glue gun

• scissors

• pencil

First - (sorry no pic) I traced the outline of the felt owl onto lightweight poster board/card stock/cardboard - and then cut it out. Set this aside for later. (If you can't find this owl at your Dollar Tree, you could easily make an outline of an owl on cardboard to use.)

Now - the first step in creating our owl friend. I started by separating the colors of the packaged leaves. Each package has a different number of each color, size and shape - be creative, use whatever colors you want, where you want. I used 3 bags of leaves, you certainly could use more. I decided to give mine a sort of - ombre effect. So, I started with red leaves on the feet, and tips of the wings. I used 3 leaves in each spot - careful to follow the shape of the owl. I used hot glue to glue everything down - just check once in awhile that you are not sticking to your surface -- I mean, a friend told me that might happen -- yeah, a friend ;)

Next, begin filling in a row at a time of whatever color you wish. My next color were the orange leaves. Continue all the way across, again paying attention to the outline of the felt owl, and layering the leaves. Filling in gaps and holes. I did orange about half way. Again, using whatever color, and how ever many you may have.

Once the orange were done, I started with the yellow. In the packages I had, the yellow leaves were a little smaller in size, so I used more to go across.

Continue in rows, and layers filling in up to the head area. (Don't forget to check occasionally to see if your glued to your surface ;) )

Now, for the head of our owl friend. This is a little trickier. I started by adding a red leaf like we used for the feet and the wing tips for the points on the top of his head (I almost called them ears -- do owls have ears? hmm -- I'll google it later).

Then, I used the green leaves to go around the outside of the head. Instead of rows across - go around the head. This way you will not have a "raw" glued edge at the top.

Again - layer and add the colors as you like.

To cover the eyes of the felt piece, use a few of the bigger leaves to cover it as best you can. The flowers will cover up any "mess" it may look like. Next, you will want to choose a piece for the beak of the owl. I used a red leaf again. I cut the side pieces of the leaf away and glued it in the middle.

Now for the eyes. Take the flower tops off of the stems. Flip it over and snip off the little green piece so it sits flatter. Load them up with glue, and put them in place.

Now, to add the finishing touches. Using the raffia, create a loop, tie a knot, and glue it on the back of the owl. Next - grab that traced and cut out piece of poster board we started with. Load it up with hot glue and place it on the back. This covers up the "messy" of the back of the project, makes it a little stronger, and blocks any light from peeking through the cut out holes in the felt. Once that is glued in place - place your stick at the bottom of his feet and glue in place.

And there you have it! A happy autumn owl made out of Dollar Tree materials, and from my front yard!

I'd love to see your creations! Leave a pic in the comments section -- or tag me on social media! I'd love to see it!

Thanks for joining me Around the Craft Table. I hope you enjoyed today's project!

(And BTW - for those of you curious -- I googled it. Owls do in fact have ears - they are on the side of their heads just behind and below the eyes. The things on their heads -- just tufts of hair. And now you know ;)

Thanks again for hanging out today -- hope to see you again soon -- Around the Craft Table!