Lobos for the Holidays-Decorate and Start a Conversation

We had fun assembling these shiny, pretty lobos out of re-used paperboard! They were hung with other creative wolf and wildlife ornaments on a tree that the Sierra Club-Grand Canyon Chapter decorated for the Phoenix Children’s hospital a few years ago. They’re a great way to initiate a conversation with friends and family about the importance of Mexican gray wolves and threats to their existence.

Materials needed:

Paperboard (from empty cereal boxes or anything similar that you already have-reduce, reuse, recycle)

Scissors

Pen or pencil

Small nail or large needle

Glue (any kind of craft or kid’s glue seemed to work well)

Glitter

Bowls to catch the glitter

Newspaper to protect work surface

Yarn, string, or ornament hooks

Directions

1. Download this wolf template, courtesy of Activity Village, or any other that you like, and print it out.

2. Cut out the wolf you want to use and trace around it on a piece of paperboard

3. Use the paperboard cut-out as a template and trace as many lobos as you want to make on more paperboard.

4. Cut out the paperboard lobos.

5. Make a hole for an ornament hook or string at the top center of the cut-out

6. Coat one side of the cut-out with a layer of glue.

7a. Holding the cut-out over a bowl, sprinkle liberally all over with glitter.
Note: if you want to use more than one color of glitter, place the glue for the first color and sprinkle with glitter. Let dry for an hour, and then place the glue for the next color and sprinkle with glitter. Repeat until one entire side is covered with glitter.

7b. As an alternative approach, you can mix glue with the glitter and brush it on together. This is pretty on colored paperboard, as it lets the colors show through.

8. Let dry for an hour. Don’t worry if the ornament curls up some; it should flatten out when you do the other side.

9. Push the small nail or large needle through the hole on the unglittered side so that you can find it on the glittered side, and repeat steps 5 -7 on the unglittered side.

10. Thread pretty yarn, shiny string, or an ornament hook through the hole.

Voila! You have a sparkly, colorful lobo to display for the holidays!

When you’re done with all your glittering, you can pour the glitter from the bowls into a folded piece of paperboard and use the fold as a funnel to pour the glitter back into its container.

If you’re making these with young kids (highly recommended!) you may want to do the cutting for them and let them do the glitter.

We’d love to see and share pictures of your Mexican wolf decorations, as well as any lobo related decorating ideas you come up with! Just send to info@mexicanwolves.org.