Small Habitat

Colors make everything! I've always looked outside and saw the little critters crawl around looking for somewhere to hide. This is where the habitat comes in. I've made this tutorial for all you small animal lovers. Hope you enjoy!

You will need the following materials:

1) Popsicle Sticks (Beige Colored or Pre-Colored)

2) Glue (Tacky or liquid)

3) Neon Food Coloring (Optional)

4) Container of water (only if your dying sticks)

5) Scissors

6) Ruler (Optional)

7) Writing utensil of some sort (marker preferred)

With the water in the container, add a few drops of food coloring into the water. Place a few sticks into the now colored water and let them soak until you are satisfied. Repeat this with as many colors as you please. Try to aim for about six colors.

In this tutorial, the sticks are pre-colored. When you dye the sticks, you may not get the deep colors as shown in this instructable

Place 10 colored sticks apart from each other in rainbow order. Now lay them next to each other so that they are touching. Repeat this step 5 more times. Do not glue any of the sticks together yet!

Taking one of the sets from step 3, glue all the sticks together, one by one next to each other, making sure that they all are aligned evenly. Repeat this step two more times. This will be your back side, top side, and your bottom side of the habitat.

***Use a ruler to align the sticks together.

Take a set of sticks from step three and align them evenly amongst each other. Don't glue these pieces together yet!Draw a large circle on one side of the sticks while they are aligned with one and another. Cut along the line drawn and place each piece back into its original position. Leave the center circle pieces out. Now glue the pieces together to create a circle as the entrance of the habitat.

Take a set of sticks from step three and align them evenly amongst each other. Don't glue these pieces together yet!Draw a small square on one side of the sticks while they are aligned with one and another. Cut along the line drawn and place each piece back into its original position. Leave the center square pieces out. Now glue the pieces together to create a square window for the habitat.There should be two side windows.

For your side walls for the habitat, you should now have one piece with a circle in the center, two pieces with squares in the center, and one solid side. These walls will be very flimsy so I would suggest putting an extra popsicle stick on the inside of the walls. This will help support it. Make sure that those sticks dont hang over the edge though.

Now take the four side pieces and get them ready to put together. First take the front side with the circle and one of the sides with the square and glue their edges together. Don't be afraid to add lots of glue. Trust me, you'll need extra glue. Then take the other side with the square and glue it parallel with its twin. Lastly, take the solid side and glue it onto the back, parallel with the front of the habitat. Now, just to be safe, add lots of extra glue.

With the two remaining solid pieces, place and glue one on top of the habitat and place/glue one on the bottom of the habitat. This we complete the shelter.

Watch your habitat become filled with creatures and you might just have a new family. Place your habitat either low on the ground or up high in a tree. Hope you enjoyed this instructable!