Yarn Bird Craft
This yarn bird craft is super cute!! Use leftover yarn from your stash to make one of these decorative birds — it’s SO EASY!
This bird decoration is such a fun spring craft, perfect for both kids and adults. Mix and match your yarn colours to make one of these adorable little birdies!
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How to Make a Yarn Bird
Materials:
- Acrylic yarn(3 different colours)
- Fiber fill stuffing
- Felt(orange)
- 2Black beads(5mm)
- Pipe cleaner(brown; cut to 6 inches)
Equipment:
- Cardboard (6 x 6 inches)
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Make the yarn bundles
- Cut a piece of cardboard to be 6 inches tall and about 6 inches long. It doesn’t need to be exact.
- Choose a colour of yarn for the bird’s wings. We’re using red.Wrap the yarn vertically around the cardboard 30 times.Cut the yarn at the same end where you started wrapping.
- Repeat, adding colours for the face/chest of the bird (white) and the head/back (yellow). Wrap each colour around the cardboard 30 times.
- Cut a piece of yarn about 12 inches long, the same colour as the first bundle.Slide the yarn under the bundle of yarn, above the cardboard, and tie it in a double knot in the middle.
- Repeat, tying knots around the next two bundles of yarn.
- Flip the cardboard over and cut the yarn bundles at their middle.
Step 3: Put the bird’s body together
- Set the yellow (head/back) bundle down vertically and place the white (face/chest) bundle down horizontally so the centers meet in a cross shape.
- Fold the yellow bundle in half, flipping the top part down over top of the white yarn.
- Tie all the yellow yarn together with a matching length of yarn, close to the middle where the bundles meet.
- Gather all the white yarn together at the top and tie it together, again close to where the bundles meet.
- Place the red bundle horizontally on top of the other yarn, again matching up the centers.
- Set a small ball of stuffing overtop of the red bundle in the middle.
- Fold the white yarn down to meet the yellow, adjusting the stuffing so it stays in the center of the bundles.
- Then fold the red wings in to meet the rest of the bundles, covering the stuffing.
- Once you’ve adjusted the yarn to your liking, tie a piece of red yarn to keep the stuffing in place.
Step 4: Add a beak, eyes, and legs to your yarn bird
- Fold a small piece of orange felt in half and cut diagonally in from the folded side. Flip it over and repeat.You should have an orange diamond shape that, when folded in half, becomes a little beak.
- Add a small dot of hot glue to the center of the orange diamond.
- Push the beak together and then add a line of glue to the straight edge. Place it at the front of the bird, where the yellow and white yarn meet.
- Add a dot of hot glue to the side of the bird’s head, on the white yarn just below the yellow.
- Place a black bead eye in the glue. Repeat on the other side.
- For the bird’s legs and feet, use a 6 inch brown pipe cleaner (or cut one to size) and fold it in half.Push the pipe cleaner through some of the yarn at the bottom middle of the bird. Pull the pipe cleaner through until the fold is at the center of the yarn.
- Bend the ends of the pipe cleaner to make the bird’s feet.To start, bend the end down about 3/8 inch and then back up on itself. Repeat until you have 3 folds that you can separate, creating the bird’s foot.
- Repeat, forming the second foot, and then bend the pipe cleaner so that the legs are pointing down and the feet stand flat.
- Trim down the bird’s tail until you’re happy with the length and look of it. Try to arrange all the pieces of yarn neatly so that the tail is even.
- Your yarn bird is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- For the best looking yarn bird smooth the yarn down as you go and tie the knots tight.
- Make a bird with multicoloured wings by using 2 or more colours in that particular bundle (the red bundle in the tutorial above).
What type of yarn is best for making a yarn bird?
A strong yarn, like acrylic, is recommended to make a yarn bird, since the knots have to be pulled tight to keep the bird together.
We used a medium/worsted weight yarn to make our yarn birds, but you could use any size. Use chunky yarn to make a bigger bird or wrap it around the cardboard fewer times. Similarly, use thinner yarn for a smaller bird, or wrap it more times.
How many colours of yarn do you need for yarn birds?
We like the look of the tri-coloured bird, with different colours for the face, back, and wings. But you can also use the same colour for both the back and wings.
You can even use more than three colours to make your bird. Try adding 2 or more colours of yarn to the wing bundle for a really cool look!
What size yarn bird does this make?
Our yarn bird is roughly 3-1/4 inches tall, and 4-1/4 inches long from beak to tail. The exact length will depend on how long or short you cut the tail.
Do I have to use stuffing inside the yarn bird?
You need to use some kind of stuffing in the bird, but it definitely doesn’t need to be fiber fill stuffing. You can easily use cotton balls, scrunch up a tissue, or even a piece of paper and use that to stuff the bird instead.
What if I don’t have beads for the yarn bird’s eyes?
If you don’t have black beads for the bird’s eyes you can also use black rhinestones, googly eyes, or cut small circles from black felt or craft foam.
How can I display my yarn bird?
These yarn birds are such a cute homemade decoration for spring! You can place them in a little wooden bowl or a faux bird’s nest. If you have a decorative birdhouse these yarn birds look adorable glued to the perch!
You can also attach your yarn bird to a spring wreath, place it on the edge of a plant pot, turn it into a Christmas ornament, or even have it guard your aquarium from naughty cats.
Making a yarn bird is a great stash busting project! They’re simple enough for kids to make, and cute enough for adult farmhouse decor.
Choose your favourite colours to make one of these yarn birds. You can use realistic bird colours, pastel spring colours, or fun and bright colours like we did!
Here’s even more spring craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
