Twist Tie Horse

Hello! Today I’ll be sharing with you a very interesting craft I learnt during my short vacation to Sapa, Vietnam a couple of months ago. The folks over in Sapa are really beautiful, and very friendly too! Anyway, one of the natives of the Sapa villages gave me a stick horse crafted from bamboo twigs as a friendship gift. I really liked it, but didn’t get the chance to ask her to teach me the steps to craft it!

Since I have always been intrigued by crafts, I decided to try to figure out how to make the bamboo horse myself, through reverse engineering! Initially, the pattern seemed really complicated and I had trouble trying to figure out the steps to it. But after spending an hour or so analysing, my patience finally paid off. And so after my many failed attempts, I figured it out.

I’ll be demonstrating the steps to craft the stick horse using twist ties rather than bamboo twigs. I had tried to find bamboo twigs in Singapore in order to reproduce an “authentic” bamboo horse, but unfortunately the bamboo twigs I found were either not long enough, or too stiff to bend. I’m using twist ties because they are easy to bend and I can easily find the lengths I need, but any ductile wire or thin stick will do just fine, as long as it stays in shape after bending.

Materials

1. 2 twist tie wires (approx. 15- 20cm each, or longer if you want a larger stick horse)

2. Scissors

Intertwine to connect the 2 wires as shown above, forming a “Y” shape.

I’ve labeled the 3 sections A, B, C and X for illustration.

You really only need to twist them a couple of times at point X to make the structure secure. Section A (the section below X) does not need to be twisted all the way till the end.

Make a fold in the middle of section A.

This will form the hind legs of the horse.

Make a fold on B near the intersection X, and run the remaining length on top of C. You should have a length of B to run (important for later steps).

Bend the top part of section B to the left to form the horse’s head.

Completely bend section C over B and A.

Bend C back under A and B.

Now C should be under B.

Bend B under C.

Bend B over the horse’s head towards the front, and over C.

Repeat Steps 5-8.

Bring C over B and A again (as in Step 5).

Twist C spirally down till the end of the hind leg.

Take a short piece of spare wire and twist spirally down the horse’s front legs if you like.

Trim both legs to the same length.

There you have it! You very own horse stick figure.

Now it’s time to show off your wire twisting skills to your friends!

Visit www.yokebakery.com for more DIY crafts!