Don’t throw that old FLON toothbrush out! Our toothbrushes can be composted or recycled but their neat standing design also makes them perfect for making some pretty excellent creatures, superheroes or monsters. whatever you can think of!
We had a go this weekend and we are pretty proud of ourselves if you don’t mind us saying. Introducing Lionel the lockdown Lion - inspired by one of our favourite designers (and our favourite tea towel) Donna Wilson. You can have a go at making Lionel with our PDF cutout or follow what we did and make up your own.
- Sketch paper (for designing your own - or alternatively print off our Lionel PDF)
- Random bits of card (old cereal boxes or packaging is perfect)
- Scissors
- Pliers (and a grown-up)
- PVA glue
- Pipe cleaner (if you want a tail!)
STEP 1.
Remove those bristles
This one is definitely for the grown-ups. To properly remove bristles for craft-time, or indeed for composting or recycling, you should use pliers to pull them out. Hold the brush firmly and grip bristles one hole at a time, then pull. Don't try grabbing too many bristles at once - you'll be sad if you snap the head off! If that’s a bit tough you can cut then back with a craft knife or scissors.
STEP 2.
Make a design
We LOVE Donna Wilson so we wanted to make a creature based on our favourite tea towel. We did a few sketches to make a rough idea of what we wanted my lion to look like. Then from this, We drew out a template of the different pieces we'd need. You'll need a set of front pieces and back pieces - easy! We wanted him to have a gorgeous big mane so we made a smaller circle for the face (about 5cm across works) and a great big circle for his magnificent locks. Then some shorts and a t-shirt because lions love streetwear. We added some tabs to the front pieces that can be folded round and stuck to the back parts to fit around the toothbrush and help make it a bit more robust.
If you fancy making Lionel yourself then you can skip this part and print off our pdf here.
STEP 3.
Cut out your card
Pick the snazziest bits of your card. We used some old postcards with nice designs. Using scissors cut out paper templates and use those to cut out your card shapes. At the fold lines, fold the tabs so that they bend back on themselves.
STEP 4.
Make up your lion
Starting with the head, put glue on the back of the toothbrush head and stick on the mane. Then with the front, put a little glue on both of the tabs that will stick to the back and on the other side of the toothbrush head and stick on the front. Be sure to make the folded bit of the tabs lie flat on the mane so they hold. Repeat this process with the shirt and shorts. For the finishing touches, bend the pipe so it hooks over the shorts and attach with a bit of glue. Finally, cut into the mane so it gets nice and fluffy.
And that's it!
We'll be making more creatures with our old toothbrushes and would love to see what you make too. If you fancy being featured on our Instagram account tag us using @flon_uk
