Make your own Trumpeter Swan

This weeks craft will show you how to make your very own swan from only a few items. If you read the blog post all about the trumpeter swans from earlier this week, why not make one. The weather is getting pretty cold so coming to the Nature Center to see our swans might not be an option soon. Here is a great alternative.

You Will Need:

• Pine Cones
• Pipe Cleaners
• Feathers
• Glue, Elmer's glue or hot glue
• Something for the beak, I used paper
• Googly Eyes

Step 1:

Roll your pipe cleaner into the head. I rolled mine and then decided where I wanted it to be on the pinecone before I cut it. I used one white pipe cleaner and one light purple pipe cleaner because that is what I had but to make it more swan-like, you can use two white pipe cleaners if you would like.

opens IMAGE file

Step 2:
Glue on the head onto the body. I used Elmer's glue which, in hindsight, may not have been the best glue to use. If you have hot glue, I recommend that. Since I used Elmer's glue, I used a rubber band to hold the head to the body and let the glue dry.

opens IMAGE file

Step 3:

Next I put the eyes on, cut out the beak and glue it on while I waited for the glue to dry. I wasn't sure how to keep the beak on so I used a paper clip. I used the black paper for the beak instead of the typical orange because the Trumpeter Swans have black beaks.

Step 4:

Once the glue dried enough, I took the rubber band off and put the feathers on. I used very light, very soft feathers so to position them on the pinecone was more difficult than I imagined. If I had used hot glue, it might have been easier. For some, I used leftover pipe cleaner bits to wrap around the end and keep them together. I gave my swans feathers on the side and tail feathers.

Step 5:

Love your swans. One of mine didn't want to stand up very well so I took a paper clip and bent it into a stand for him. That way he can stand up better.