3D bird ornaments - because crafting can save your mind

When the first missile attack threat alert started shrilling on my phone, I was playing with my phone and watching Instagram reels. Fear hit me and my heart burned while my husband and I walked towards the safest area of our home.

Funny or not – this area is where the cupboards with all my craft materials and tools are stored. And less than a minute since the first signal, I was already relaxed, looking inside the drawers, touching different paper pieces and thinking that I definitely should craft something.

The “active meditation”

I am always calling my hand-cutting activities my meditation. Give me a pair of scissors and something to cut out, preferably with a bit more complicated shape and leave me alone. Science explains this with completing a project working as an antidepressant by boosting the dopamine levels. But before you really try it when your brain’s natural reaction is to panic, you will never realise its power over all negative emotions. Works great in life and health threatening situations – I learned this in the Covid times. In moments of stress or uncertainty – craft!

About the 3D birds project

I actually started the 3D bird designs a lot earlier in the year. But buying a new Cricut machine and having problems with making the Print Then Cut option work made me leave it for an indefinite time. Until the alert.

So I want to share the project with you and hope that making your own cute little birds will help you in moments of anxiety. At the end of the article I will publish a high-quality picture which you can print and use as a template.

How to make the 3D birds

Easily! You don’t need any special tools or materials!

First cut out the shapes and colour them. Or you can just use paper with different colours.

I used watercolours and the pencils my son gifted me for this Christmas.

Watercolor-painted paper pieces for assembling 3D bird ornaments arranged on a dark crafting table, including two bird body halves, wings and tail parts, with watercolor paints, colored pencils and a brush visible in the background.

Then make the wings. Because they will be visible from both sides, I decided to give them a little bit different design. You can do it too. Or if using only coloured paper, you can make the inside parts one colour and the outside parts another.

Meet and glue both parts together.

Hand-painted paper pieces for a 3D bird ornament, including two bird body halves and four wing pieces, arranged on a dark crafting surface before assembly

Put them aside. Later they will go to these sides of the bird ornaments but now it is time to make the tail. Fold every one of the four tail elements as shown. It is very easy to do it by first matching the long parts and then making the fold in the middle.

Partially assembled 3D paper bird ornament with wings attached to the bird bodies, with folded tail pieces and a tail template piece placed below on a dark crafting surface.

When all the elements are folded, first glue them 2+2…

Hand-painted paper bird bodies with wings attached and folded tail pieces arranged below, showing parts prepared for assembling a 3D paper bird ornament on a crafting table

… and then all together. I suggest working symmetrically because adding elements only on one side can twist the shape.

Hand-painted paper pieces for a 3D bird ornament arranged for assembly, including two bird body halves, two wings and a folded tail piece on a dark background.

Putting the bird together

Now you have all the elements – the body, the wings and the tail.

Take the tail and glue it to one of the body elements as shown on the photo.

Folded paper tail pieces for a 3D bird ornament glued together and attached to the inside of one bird body half, with wings and the second body piece placed nearby on the crafting surface.

If you want to put thread for hanging the ornament, now is the moment. But glue it on the body side, not on the tail fold. When it is on the body side, later it will be pressed between two paper pieces and will remain stable. If you glue it on the tail, it will not be secured from both sides and can possibly fall off. You can also stick an extra paper piece on the top to secure the gluing.

Hm… It just comes to my mind now that you can do this also on the tail fold. So the decision in this is yours 😊

Gold hanging string glued along the inside fold of the paper bird body, showing how to attach the string securely when assembling the 3D paper bird ornament.

When the hanging string is attached, put glue on the other white area of the tail and the (white) inside of the body part and glue on top the second bird body part.

I suggest first gluing only the tail. And then putting glue and closing it when first meeting the beaks. This will help to match all the body properly and will avoid big white strips showing off.

Assembled paper bird body with the gold hanging string attached, showing the finished body of the 3D bird ornament with only the wings left to glue on.

And the last step – glue the wings and your bird will be ready!

Finished 3D paper bird ornament with hand-painted wings and tail and a gold hanging string, displayed on a crafting table with watercolor paints and colored pencils in the background.

I don’t know how long you will be doing the colouring. I played a lot with the colours. But the bird assembling took me no more than 10 minutes. So imagine how many different birds you can create in a day, especially if you use coloured paper or ask your children to help.

A whole flock!

Here is mine.