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How to Do Animal Art Out of Eggshells

Using recycled food products or leftovers for artwork is an inventive, environmentally friendly and texturally rich alternative to traditional paints, pencils or crayons. Because they are thin and you can easily break them into various consistencies and sizes, eggshells are a versatile and inviting material to use for artistic projects. Whether you crush them into powder, use them whole or separate them into particular shapes, eggshells are especially good for creating the likeness of animal hides, particularly those with regular and pronounced patterns, such as the giraffe.

Things You'll Need

  • 3 dry brown eggshells
  • Glue
  • Thick paper
  • Pencil
  • Giraffe stencil
  • Brown marker
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Instructions

    • 1

      Download a free giraffe stencil from the internet. Place the giraffe stencil on your paper. Trace your pencil lightly along the edges of the stencil to make the outline of the giraffe's body. Remove the stencil from the paper.

    • 2

      Break the eggshells into 1/2-inch pieces that are squarish in shape.

    • 3

      Dab a dot of glue on one piece of eggshell. Press the eggshell onto the paper so that it is inside the giraffe outline. The eggshell pieces will be the square pattern of the giraffe's hide.

    • 4

      Dab another dot of glue onto a new piece of eggshell. Press this piece onto the paper next to the other eggshell piece, leaving a small margin of white space between them. Continue adding evenly spaced pieces of eggshell to the giraffe's body until you have filled in the whole outline.

    • 5

      Crush the remaining eggshell into smaller, grain-sized pieces. Apply glue to the ears and tail of the giraffe on your paper. Press the crushed eggshell onto the sticky surfaces of the ears and tail until they are secure. Lift up the paper and hold it vertically. Shake the paper lightly to make sure the eggshells stay. Put the paper flat again and add crushed eggshell wherever shells have fallen off.

    • 6

      Use the brown marker to make a circle where the eye would normally be on the giraffe. Fill in the circle with the same marker. Add brown marker to the eggshell on the inside of the ears, the hooves and on the end of the tail to darken. Go over the pencil outline of the giraffe with the brown marker to make the animal's body stand out.

    • 7

      Leave the finished giraffe on a flat surface to dry.

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