Unicorn Horn Tutorial

Admittedly when I came home and B showed me this creation I was slightly perturbed. (Yes, once again B is the creative genius… I think he needs his own craft blog.) I was going to make some simple paper horns, glue a band of elastic for a strap and call it good. And now he had created this new, superior horn that was going to take 3 times as long to make…. but it would look 3 times as good and be 3 times as sturdy. In full disclosure, he actually didn’t come up with this idea, but had seen a version of it on the web and together we made it our own.

Here’s what you need:

1 milk or water jug with a twist off cap (that’s important!)
scissors
xacto blade
card stock
glue gun
ribbon–measure to fit your child’s head
tissue paper (not pictured)
cutting mat (not pictured)

1. To begin, cut off the top of the milk carton roughly.

2. Once it’s cut you’ll want to go back and trim it up a little.

3. It doesn’t have to be exact, but the edges should be nice and smooth. Also, make sure to take off the little ring that sits below the cap.

Now it’s time to make a cone.

1. Using your card stock you’ll want to start at the top in the center and using a string attached to a pencil draw a slightly curved line at the bottom.

2. Then using a ruler, draw straight lines on either side connecting the top to the bottom.

3. Then cut it out. The top shouldn’t be a point but about a half inch wide.

Once the cone is cut out you have to start working it into a cone. Probably the hardest part…start by using a pencil and wrap around the smallest point.

Slowly work the paper back and forth until you get a nice cone shape.

Before you glue it together place it over the top of the milk carton to make sure the cone will fit on top. It’s OK if it’s too big, but you don’t want it to be too small. Then just put a line of glue down the edge of the paper and glue it together. I think hot glue works best here, but be careful not to burn yourself! Use a pencil to run along the top of the paper once the glue is on to press it down together.

Now to glue the horn onto the lid.

1. Place the lid inside and see how far it goes up. You want a snug fit.

2. Take out the lid and put a ribbon of hot glue all the way around. Push the lid back in.

3. Cut off the excess paper. It’s best to leave the paper slightly longer than the lid.

Now we’re going to add the fur. First we’ve got to cut slits for the ribbon. Just place your milk lid on the cutting mat and cut two slits on either side using your exacto knife. If your ribbon is an inch wide, but it about an inch long.

Now cut the fringe for your unicorn hair. Just take a few sheets of tissue paper, fold it over and cut. Then go back and cut the fringe. Now you’re cutting multiple rows of fringe at once. Once you’re finished, unfold the paper and cut down the middle to separate your fringe.

Now take your milk carton and put a ribbon of hot glue along the front and add the fringe over the top.

Now just keep gluing fringe in layers around the back and one final layer going around the lid. About 4 layers in all.

Now just string the ribbon through the bottom…

And you’re done!

Yeah we did 18 of these. It wasn’t too bad between the 2 of us assembly line style, but doing 1 or 2 of these for your little ones would be a snap. You could even use fake fur for the top or fringe some cotton fabric instead to last longer. I wanted to add some ears too, but alas I had to call it quits for the sake of my sanity. Of course we let the girls decorate these for the party--it was a great craft they really enjoyed doing. Lastly, the ribbon is very cute, but doesn’t stay in super well–you may consider adding elastic to join the ends like a head band or using less slippery ribbon.

You’ll have dueling unicorns in no time…Good luck!

*****
ps. I realize most of you would probably rather have a piñata DIY, but we didn’t document the very beginning–which is the most important part!–because we didn’t really think it would turn out. Ha! We’ll know better next time.