For today’s tutorial, I will not only teach you how to make these super-cute, super-easy paper birds in cages, but I will also proceed to take you on the distracted journey that my mind travels whilst attempting to create something… Hold on to your seats. This is going to be a long post- but it will be worth it, I promise.

How cute is this little guy? With just a few supplies, and 15 minutes, you can create your own paper bird in a paper cage. I first saw these on pinterest, and since then I had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make some! So when my niece was having a rainbow-themed party a few months back, I was excited to make a whole spectrum of these!

First I cut some birds out of heavy card stock. It took me a few tries to come up with a good design for a bird…

I got distracted here… with the kangaroo-esq legs and angry face…

…and then came fatty with the ice cream…

…and the winner was this lil guy! I posed him on the best rhubarb pie recipe in the world, as my awesome sister proceeded to make it:

MMMmmmmmm rhubarb pie with a crisp topping is so much better than with the traditional lattice-top crust! And of course my creepy brass clown had to make an appearance. My sister single-handedly (seriously- she only has one hand) converted me into a rhubarb lover.

Once we ate a pie, I got back to work:

For the bars of the cage I cut out 3 strips of heavy card stock that were 11 inches long and a third of an inch thin. (I prefer the thicker 1/2 inch one I used for the cage at the top of this post, though.) I punched a hole in the center of the bars, and then I punched a hole in Mr. Bird. (Note-I eventually just used a pin-hole because this one was way too big.) I tied and strung some clear string through the bars and the bird like this. Plain white polyester thread works great for this too.

I fastened the bars and the string with a cute matching brad. I really wish ‘brads’ were called something else. ‘Brad’ is such a gross name for anything craft related. “Oh, honey, can you grab me my cabochons and my filigrees, some embellishments and a BRAD.” Ew.

For the base of the cage, I used a canning jar ring. Someone you know probably has em kicking around, or you can definitely get them at any thriftstore for dirt cheap. I thought it was a pretty genius move. The original cages I was inspired by used either just a ring of paper or a yogurt container lid- which I have none of, as I am allergic to dairy-thanks for bringing up a touchy subject.

I just spaced the bars evenly and used a dab of hot glue to adhere them to the lid. I cut out a strip of matching paper and glued it around the ring. And then I saw the pile of left-over paper. And got distracted:

BUTTERFLY INFESTATION!

I had to tame those beasts, so I sewed them together, leaving a couple of inches in between each one- and BAM! Easiest garland ever! I’ll do a more detailed tutorial on this soon 🙂

Anyways- back to work!

Simply cut out a circle of matching card stock, stick it inside the ring, and hang up your delightful bird! Here is that whole spectrum I made:

EEeeeek! I love them so!!!

But alas I had to send them off to my niece. It was hard to see them go, so I decided to use my favorite vintage-inspired paper (which I also used for the background of my button clock) to create my very own bird in a cage to hang in my bedroom.

So precious…I needed to take more photos!

Up close and personal. Oooooh, Ahhhhh.

Well I hope you enjoyed this tutorial/ character study of an A.D.D.-er. Have fun making some of your own little birds. They are a lot quieter than the real thing, and a lot cleaner too…

Nevermind…

Happy bird-caging!

~Dot