Looking for a fun craft for kids (or to make for kids) that is just truly adorable? You've found it! This milk carton craft that results in the cutest little milk carton animal boxes is truly a keeper, and requires minimal supplies. So save those milk cartons (I was driving my family crazy with a cabinet stuffed full of them) and have fun creating a whole menagerie. The more the better, and while they make great little desk or craft cubby organizers, you can also use them as sweet party favor boxes, or in our case, to hold little edible gifts for our Purim shaloch manos, or as we generally say here in Israel, mishloach manot.
Make a variety of characters for your milk carton desk organizers or gift boxes, or choose to make them all the same, which of course could be also really cute.
You'll Need:
- milk/juice cartons (mine are a liter/quart, though 1/2 gallon size could be fun too)
- acrylic craft paint (or latex house paint)
- washi tape or colored paper + glue
- a pencil + a black permanent marker
- a pink or red marker
- a large paint brush and scissors
- decoupage medium or acrylic varnish (optional)
How To:
- Cut off the top portion of your milk or juice carton, thoroughly rinse with warm water and soap. Set aside to dry, upside down.
- Using acrylic paint or even left-over latex house paint that you may have on hand, paint the cartons on four sides. If you would like to make characters with party hats, paint the upper portion of the milk carton a different color. You may need two or more coats to cover the graphics on the carton. Apply each new coat of paint only after the previous coat is completely dry.
- Use a pencil to very lightly draw a simple face, and ears or a hat. Be careful as paint may scratch off easily. Note: Faces look the cutest when drawn on a square or circle, so make the portion of the milk carton that represents the face the same height as width roughly so it will be a square area. For cutest results, simply copy the way I have drawn the features.
- Go over the features with a black permanent marker, and a red or pink marker for cheeks and ears.
Add details such as small bows, and stripes and a ball on top of the hat with washi tape or strips of colored paper. Cut washi tape in half lengthwise to make thin strips. - For extra durability, cover entire milk carton with a coat or two of acrylic varnish or decoupage medium (optional.)
- Now, come up with some of your own ideas for making fun characters from milk cartons! And truthfully, we had so much fun making these that we are in the middle of making some more animals which I will share with you just as soon as they are ready for the limelight!
This craft was directly inspired by a milk carton animal planters craft by one of my favorite bloggers, pysselbolaget, from Sweden. She is a regular contributor on Craft Schooling Sunday and is one of my go-to crafters for great style! Her site can be viewed in English (the link above) or in Swedish, yippee!
