Hanging Bird From Scrap Yarn

This is another modification of a blog project I found intriguing but had some trouble with the instructions.

I wanted to do this with kids over the summer to tie in with the outdoor summer reading theme (and use up the random not quite enough for a project bits of yarn that someone donated), so I tried to make it both a bit simpler and break down the steps a little more. It's adapted from https://craftbits.com/project/cute-bird-made-of-leftover-yarn/

With all the book challenges going on, I figured a rainbow bird would be just perfect to hang from the pride display sign and rainbow kusudama flowers!

yarn

fabric scissors

ruler

cardstock

glue (hot glue is best if you have it handy)

optional:

scrap paper

felt

fishing line or clear plastic lacing and large blunt needle

You will need 2 pieces of cardstock paper, one about 10 cm and another about 12 cm. I folded the cardstock in half and then cut it to size to make it a little stiffer. (Cereal box cardboard is also a really good material for this!)

Light yarn for the belly (10 cm), darker yarn for the top (12 cm) and medium or mixed color yarn for the wings (10 cm) seems to work best.

For my rainbow bird I opted for purple for the top of the body because it was the darkest (okay, and also one of my favorite colors), a mix of blue and green for the wings, and the yellow/orange/red for the belly.

Wrap each color of yarn around the cardstock loosely until the bundle is about 1m thick on each side.

For the multicolor bundles I wrapped the strands at the same time to end up with an even amount of each color. (This would work better if the orange I had was halfway between my red and yellow, but working with scraps...)

Cut off an extra piece of yarn about twice the length of the cardstock. Slip it under the bundle and tie it tight at the top. Now cut the bottom.

Comb through the bundles with your fingers on either side of the center tie to help make sure the strands are lying neatly.

Straighten out the belly bundle and then put the back bundle centered across its middle.

Fold each bundle in half (try to keep the center knot inside the fold) and then tie both at the base of where they’re interlocked with coordinating yarn. You'll have two linked tassels.

Take the wing bundle and center it over where the two other bundles connect. Crumple a small piece of paper (1/4 to 1/2 a sheet of printer paper) into a tight ball. This will give the bird more shape and size. Place the crumpled paper on top the center of the bundles.

Gather the yarn bundles around the paper and hold them together tightly.

Make sure you like the shape... Smooth out the yarn if needed, crumple a little more paper around your ball if you want a rounder bird...

Take small piece of yarn and tie it tightly around the gathered ends. Trim the ends so they’re even to make a tail. (It might take a few tries and the sharper the scissors the better for this part!)

For an open beak, cut a diamond shape from felt. Fold it in half and glue that center fold against the bird where you want the beak.

For a closed beak you can cut a semi circle out of cardstock and roll it up to make a tiny cone. Trim it to length before gluing it to the body.

You can make one of each and see what your bird feels like it wants!

If you want your bird to fly, you can hang it on fishing line or clear plastic lacing.

Thread a blunt needle with the cording and carefully pull it through the center top of the bird, just over the paper inside.

Tie a knot and hang!