Peacock From a Book

This was made from items I saved in my discard box. Using an old book and some cardboard with some good old tape, I made a peacock. It has its signature feathers, two legs to stand up, and a cool head. Best of all, you can decorate it and make it your own peacock! Who knew messing with books would be so fun?

Estimated creation time: 25 to 45 minutes

Estimated coloring time: Will vary

Estimated cost: 0 dollars if the tape is yours/already bought

Step 1: List of Material

You will need the following:

- A big sheet of cardboard

- A book

- Tape (as long it is strong)

- Scissors

- Marker

- Toothpicks

Optional:

- Paintbrushes/Markers/Decoration Material

Step 2: Making the Feathers... Folding and Taping

Cut off the covers if they are not made of paper or slippery. Figure out how many sheets (not pages) you want by taking the page number (picture two), and dividing that by the amount of feathers times two. Then begin making the feathers by folding the first group of feathers inward, towards the pages of the book not outside. Continue until you have finished the feathers.

As you make the feathers, tape the first feather to the one next to it, and that one to the one next to it, etc.

Step 3: Strengthening the Feathers, Adding Some Flair

The feathers might still fall apart if pushed on from the inside so tape the feathers like how you did on the previous step but on the other side. Now tape the edge between the first and second down, bringing the tape tight towards the bottom of the body. Repeat on the edge between the second-to-last and last feather.

Step 4: Creating the Head

Cut off a decent sized piece of the cardboard, should be big enough to have one side almost as big as one of the peacock's feathers when folded into a cube, missing two faces though. See picture as reference. Take one of the exposed sides and fold it slightly, just to make a small side. Insert toothpicks into the other exposed side and connect the two exposed sides, making a nice cube... almost.

Step 5: Finishing the Head

Trace out the two missing sides of the head and cut them out. Tape them to their respective side and tape the two sides connected by the toothpicks together as well. Your head is finished now.

Step 6: Making the Neck

Cut off a piece of cardboard then fold into a triangle. Tape to close and to hold the shape. If you have an odd amount of feathers, with the tip of the triangle facing down, insert the triangle into the middle feather while leaving part of it exposed. Tape to hold on all sides. If you have an even amount of feathers, tape on top of the edge between the two middle feathers carefully.

Step 7: Attaching the Head

Tape in place the head to the neck as appropriately. That's all for this step.

Step 8: Making and Attaching the Legs

Similar to the head, cut out two big strips and fold into a rectangle/square and tape together to hold the shape. Cut out two smaller strips of cardboard and tape to the bottom of the legs to serve as feet. Make sure the top and bottom of the legs are flat. If not, cut the top and/or bottom to be flat.

To attach, simply tape all four sides of the feet onto the bottom of the body so they are connected by a diagonal line and are closer to the middle of the body but still in between the middle and respective edge of the body. The feet should face forward or you will have a very weird peacock...

Step 9: Optional Decoration and Finishing

This last part is optional but I must admit, the picture for this step shows that without decorations or coloring, the peacock looks more like tape mixed with paper. Add some colors to match your style and show off to your friends and family! Maybe let children or your children help decorate the peacock. Just use your imagination!

To finish off, let the peacock stand, adjusting the legs as needed so they are straight and can support the body without the body leaning or falling. Have fun with your newly made peacock! (If in need of quick disposable, it is also recyclable!)