Check out our tutorial and learn how you can make your own vintage-style spun cotton doll heads from ø 30 mm spun cotton balls.
Vintage spun cotton doll heads are rare works of art and prized items among collectors. Their making is a tradition that started in Germany back in the late 19th century.
You can use the finished doll heads to fashion beautiful vintage angel figurines, elves and fairies ornaments, Christmas doll ornaments, pine cone fairies, tatted angels, and more.
Paint for the desired skin tone (acrylic paint works particularly well).
A few color pen (ballpoint or ultra fine markers) – black, red, and blue.
Toothpicks or bamboo skewers to rest the balls while the paint dries.
A pencil and an eraser to outline facial features before drawing permanently.
A simple ballpoint pen works fine to draw on spun cotton .
Step by Step Directions:
1: Make your “vintage color” paint mix. Vintage spun cotton doll heads are often a pale brown, yellow or pink. You can easily obtain these colors by mixing a little white in your paints.
2: Paint the balls with the desired skin tone color. It helps to hold the balls on a toothpicks or bamboo skewers while painting them. Paint should only take about 10 min to dry.
Step 1
Step 2
3: When dry, draw a face with a ball pen or ultra-fine marker. Use different colors.
Facial Expressions to choose from
You are done :)
Things you can do with your vintage doll heads:
You can use your beautiful vintage inspired doll heads many different ways:
– Toothpick spun cotton heads or vintage party toppers.
– Japan-style vintage spun cotton ornaments…
The doll face “decal” technique
Your can make beautiful vintage spun cotton doll heads without having to draw faces by hand. To do so, you’ll just need a printer and a tissue.
The technique is simple. Tape a tissue onto a piece of printing paper. You may have to trim the tissue a little bit so that it fits within the sheet of paper. Make sure all the edges of the tissue are taped over (this is important). Search the internet for nice doll face images and print them on the sheet you just prepared as if it was a regular sheet of printing paper.
Cut around your doll face prints. Only keep the upper most ply (the one that is printed on). Discard the other ones.
Brush some mod podge over a spun cotton ball and delicately position the face over the mod podge. Try to make as little wrinkles as possible (gently tap with your fingers).
Brush a second layer of mod podge over the edges of the tissue to remove all the last wrinkles. However, be careful not to brush directly over the ink because it may smear the ink.
Wait until the mod podge dries to a clear finish. You are done :)
I hope you enjoyed these tutorials. As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to leave a comment. Happy crafting!
Check out our two tutorials and learn how you can make your own Vintage Style Angel Ornaments.
The two tutorials are quite different. The angel ornaments from the first tutorial have fluffy heart shaped wings, and beautiful lace gowns whereas the angel ornaments from the second tutorial have a gorgeous traditional look in which lace is the star of the show.
Gold, or yellow, or beige pipe cleaners for the angel halos.
White craft tacky glue.
1 1/2 ” wide Ruffled lace, about 4 1/2 inches per angel.
A pair of wire cutters.
Acrylic paint for the angel faces. Your choice of color.
A black ball pen to draw the eyes and the mouths.
Spun Cotton Figurines
Ruffled lace
White bump pipe cleaner (chenille)
Step by step directions
1: Gather your materials.
2: Paint the heads of the angel ornaments in one solid color.
3: With the black ball pen, draw the mouths and the eyes.
4:. Pour glue on your figurine bodies.
5: Dress each figurine with a 4.5″ long piece of lace. Make sure the ends of the lace meet in the back (you can use a paper clip to keep them together).
6: When the glue is dry, remove the paper clips and pour a small bead of glue on each side of the figurines.
7: Fold the lace over the two beads of glue. The lace endings are now pointing forward. Keep the lace in this configuration until the glue is dry. You can use a small paper clip.
8: While the glue dries, you can work on the halos. Just create a loop with a piece of pipe cleaner, twist the ends together a few times, and cut off the excess.
9: Glue the halos to the angel heads. Try to use as little glue as possible so as not to leave any glue marks.
10: Let your ornaments rest a little until the glue under the halos and the glue under the lace pieces is dry.
11: Remove the paper clips and pour two more beads of glue on the sides of your dolls.
12: Fold the lace ends back and keep them in this position with a rubber band. Let dry.
13: Almost done. Bend the white bumpy pipe cleaners into heart shapes. Twist the ends together.
14: Cut off the excess pipe cleaner with a wire cutter.
15: Final gluing. Pour two good size beads of glue on the back of your ornaments.
16: Gently add the wings to your angels. Make sure they are centered
17: Rest your ornaments in a safe and quiet place until the glue is dry :)
YOU ARE DONE :)
Tutorial 2: Traditional Vintage Angel Ornament
Project Materials:
– A 30mm spun cotton ball for the head. They are lightweight and easy to draw on. – A piece of lace about 2 feet long and 3 1/2″ wide. – A crylic paint for the head (I used a pale yellow color). – A black ball pen (for the eyes) and a red ball pen (for the mouth). – A piece of ribbon (about 10″ long) – A bamboo skewer (a toothpick would work too). – A pair of scissors and a stapler.
The lace I used
Step by step directions:
Paint the ball in one solid color and let it dry. To give the skin color a vintage look, use a pale washed off color such as pale brown, yellow or pink.
Cut your lace into three pieces: one long 12″ long piece (the body) and two short 5″ long pieces (the wings).
Prepare the wings. Fold a short piece of lace into an accordion fold and staple one end. Repeat with the other wing.
Prepare the body: Wrap the long piece of lace around the bamboo skewer making sure to create pleats as you go. Tie a piece of ribbon around the lace to secure it into place.
By now the head should be dry. With the two pens, draw the eyes and mouths.
Slide the wings down on the pointy end of the bamboo skewer. Roll the bamboo skewer through your fingers to help.
Add the angel’s head
You are done :)
I hope you enjoyed these angel tutorials and are ready to embark on your own vintage angel ornament projects. As usual, do not hesitate to ask questions, we are always happy to help. Happy crafting!
You can make beautiful, vintage style spun cotton ornaments from blank spun cotton shapes. In this tutorial, we will explore basic craft techniques and present you with some of our favorite creations. The making of each of the following ornaments will be explained in more details further down.
elves with felt scarves
Glittered peaches
Sugared Plums
Glittered apple and pear
Glittered lemons
Vintage angels
Spun Cotton Ornaments – A little history
Spun cotton ornaments, originated in the Saxony region of Germany back in the second half of the 19th century, during the late Victorian era. These old fashioned beauties were made with cotton batting (and sometime wool batting too), a fluffy, raw looking material made of non woven fibers.
People in those days would wrap and press the cotton batting, by hand, around a metal wire frame. Next, they would cover the ornaments with a starchy liquid to give them a smooth workable surface. Finally, when dry, they would paint the ornaments, and decorate them with glitter, home made paper trimmings, and even cut out paper faces.
Traditional spun cotton ornaments were made during the Holidays to be displayed on the Christmas tree. Families would fashion ornaments in the shape of fruits, angels, children, Santa Claus, and even animals.
In this tutorial, we wanted to present you with a twist on this traditional technique, and show you how you can make beautiful vintage style ornaments, starting from modern blank spun cotton shapes.
Making your ornements from blank spun cotton shapes – The basics
We love to work with blank spun cotton shapes because it is fast and convenient. There is no need to create a shape out of batting, just use an already existing one. The shapes come in literally hundreds of different forms: fruits, balls, teardrops…
Just like traditional spun cotton ornaments, spun cotton shapes originated in Germany. They are made of soft paper, rolled by machines inside of a mold.
Blank shapes can be painted (acrylic craft glue works great), covered with glittered (sugar style glass glitter give them a terrific vintage look), glued to other materials…
Icing on the cake, unless glass ornements, spun cotton shapes are shatter proof.
Altering the shape of the shapes – yes it’s possible!
It is possible (and easy) to compress the shapes a little bit in some areas to create ridges and small depressions. For example, you can alter ball shapes into pumpkins, peaches, oranges or plums for exams.
In the above picture, we made a ridge into a ø40mm ball. We will then use it to make a lovely glittered peach ornament.
To dent or compress the shapes, simply spray a fine mist of water on them, and use a tool to apply pressure (the handle of a metal spoon will work just fine). Let dry and voila :)
Use a wooden pick and don’t get paint on your fingers
Why not use the hole that is inherent to all of the shapes to hold your spun cotton ornaments with a pick while you work on them? It’s very convenient.
You can also use the wooden pick to rest the shape while the paint dries. When you are done painting or decorating, simply insert the stick in a piece of foam, or just rest it in a heavy cup.
Easily add hanging loops to your ornaments
Since all shapes have a hole on one side, it’s easy to add a hanging loop.
You can easily fabricate a little hanging device by looping a short piece of wire around the handle of a paintbrush. Once done, simply insert it into the hole of the shape. For a secure bond, pour a little glue into the hole before inserting the metal loop.
A few of our vintage style Christmas ornament creations
Vintage angel ornaments
We love our cute little angels and fashioned them from the 47mm tall peg doll shapes. Once painted, we dressed them with lace and created the wings with fluffy white bump chenille. You can visit our full tutorial page for all the details.
Glittered Plum Ornaments
We made our plums from ø40mm spun cotton balls and used German glass glitter to coat them.
The first step was to create a ridge along one side of the spun cotton ball. To do so, spray mist a little water on the ball and with the handle of a spoon (or a similar object), press down to create the ridge. Let dry
Then, paint the ball with purple acrylic paint. Try to blend a little bit of grey into your purple to create a more vintage color.
The leaves are made with white cardstock, painted to the desired color. Or you can simply use a dark green color cardstock if you have some, but we think it looks better if you paint your own cardstock. When the pain is dry, glue a piece of metal wire on the back side of the leave. This piece of metal wire should overhang by 2 cm.
Time to add glitter! Cover the plum and the leave with regular white craft glue (use a paint brush) and sprinkle the glitter over with a spoon. Tap of the excess. Wait a few hours until the glue is completely dry.
Almost done! Make a hanging loop (see instructions above), cover the tip of the loop with glue and insert into the plum. Without waiting, cover the tip of the wire overhanging from the leaf with glue and insert into the plum as well. You are all set :)
To make these sparkling beauties, we used our blank lemon shapes. The process is very similar to the one we used to make the sugar plums ornaments.
Vintage Apple and Pear ornaments
TIP : to give your ornaments a vintage-y look, try to avoid colors that are too bright or too flashy. Instead, incorporate into the paint a small amount of grey. Give them this antique Victorian style look that caracterizes vintage ornaments.
Vintage Peach Spun Cotton Ornament
To make the peach, we used a ø 50mm spun cotton ball. However, you could also use ø40 or ø45 balls and the peaches would still look great.
One of the most difficult thing with peach ornaments is to blend the yellows, the reds and the oranges and create realistic ombre effects. You may have to practice a little. It is important to work with all colors at the same time, so one doesn’t dry out before the other.
TIP: Spray mist a little water onto the blank ornament before adding the paints. This way, the cotton won’t absorb the paint too quickly and the paint won’t dry too fast. You will have more time to work on a perfect color transition.
However, don’t sweat it too much, people will be impressed even if your blending technique isn’t perfect. And don’t forget: a little sugar makes everything better :)
Elves with felt scarves spun cotton ornaments
This one is a little different from the others because we used a string to create the hanging loop instead of using a piece of metal. We used ø 20 mm balls for the heads, painted them with a solid color, and simply dabbed 2 black dots for the eyes. The felt hats are stitched in the back and glued onto the heads. We used hot glue to fold the scarves and to attach them to the heads.
Happy Crafting with SPUNNYS Please feel free to leave a comment or contact us
Check out our tutorial and learn how you can make beautiful Pipe Cleaner Animals by combining pipe cleaners and spun cotton balls.
Pipe Cleaner Animals – project materials:
– A few pipe cleaners (chenille). Pipe cleaners come in many different styles: solid color pipe cleaners, glitter pipe cleaners, zebra marking pipe cleaners, “plush” pipe cleaners….You can experiment with different colors and different styles.
– A pair of round nose pliers (useful to make perfectly round animal ears)
Start by gathering your materials. Bend the full length pipe cleaner in half.
Make a loop with the piece of thread. Tie a knot.
Cut off the excess thread to get a clean knot.
Insert the knot in the hole. Push the knot down into the hole with the round pair of pliers. It is not necessary to use any glue. The pipe cleaner will cover the hole.
Use the round pliers to make a loop in the middle of the pipe cleaner strand. Twist the loop a few times so it doesn’t get untied. This is the first ear.
Notice how the ear is in the center of the piece of pipe cleaner. This is important for later.
Following the same technique, create a second loop. Notice how the two strands have different lengths.
Position the ball between the two ears. The hole faces up.
With the pliers, twist the pipe cleaner under the ball. Make it tight.
Shape the arms. Have them go out horizontally and then down in an X pattern.
Start shaping the torso. Grab one of the two strands of pipe cleaner and fold it up and across.
Then fold the pipe cleaner strand down and across again, but behind the animal’s back this time.
Repeat with the other strand. Except this time, go behind the back first and come back in front. When you are done with the torso, the two legs should have different lengths.
Shape the first leg by folding back the shortest strand.
Shape the second leg by folding back the other strand of pipe cleaner.
Notice how you have enough pipe cleaner left to make the tail. To make the tail, just bend the end of the pipe cleaner onto itself so the tail ends in a gentle loop. Draw a face.
You are done :)
More pipe cleaner animal DIY craft projects to get you inspired
A few final thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this page and found some inspiration for your next DIY craft projects.
Pipe cleaner animals are great everyday projects because they are fun to make, they look cute, and they require only inexpensive materials.
Moreover, making pipe cleaner animals is a great way to work on our creative skills. You don’t have to twist and bend your pipe cleaners exactly the same way I did. You can create your own style of pipe cleaner animals.
As alway, do not hesitate to send us your questions, it’s always a pleasure to hear from you. Until then, happy crafting!
Follow our tutorial and learn how you can make beautiful bird ornaments simply by using a few feathers and a couple of spun cotton shapes. When creating this tutorial, we tried to come up with something easy, stylish, natural looking and that only requires a few materials. We hope you enjoy it.
Our bird ornament is mounted on a piece of floral stem so it looks like it’s floating. You can bend the floral stem different ways (see examples below) whether you prefer to display your bird in a floral arrangement or as a hanging ornament.
Spun cotton shapes are made of paper and can easily be glued to each other. Notice how they all have a small hole on one side.
One strand of 18 gauge paper wrapped floral stem wire.
A few feathers. We used three for this project. We wanted a bird project that makes conservative use of feathers but still looks great.
A little bit of glue. We used regular white tacky glue. It works very well. It dries fairly fast and creates a strong bond.
A tiny fragment of a wood twig for the beak.
A black marker to draw the eyes.
Step by step tutorial:
1: The body
Glue together the spun cotton egg and the spun cotton ball
Step 1
2: Add the feathers
Glue the three feathers onto the spun cotton egg. One feather goes on each side and one feather goes on the bottom. Just a little bit of glue is enough to make the feathers stick.
Notice the feathers are naturally curvy. Make sure the 3 feathers all point inward, not outward.
3: Draw the eyes
We recommend that you mark the position of the eyes with a pencil first. Make sure the pencil marks are at the same level on each side before going over them with a permanent marker.
Step 3
4: The beak
Cut the beak in a little piece of wood, such as a small twig. You can then use a pair of tweezers to glue it on. Note that there is no rule dictating how long the beak should be.
When done, finish by inserting a floral stem in the hole located in the front of the bird. You can bend the stem one of 2 ways: downward (so you can plant the stem into a vase) or upward (so you can hang the bird as an ornament). If you bend the stem upward, you can add a little 10mm spun cotton ball at the other end of the stem for style.
This is it!
We hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found some inspiration and some motivation to get started with your own DIY bird ornaments. And as always, if you have any questions or if we can help you with anything, do not hesitate to leave a comment.
NOTE: A big thank you to our talented milliner friend Shelley at Chapeaux by Shelley who sent us the feathers.
Follow our tutorial and learn how you can make beautiful polymer clay beads using spun cotton shapes as lightweight fillers. This creative tutorial is courtesy of Greek clay artist Klio Tsaliki (https://www.etsy.com/people/1000and1).
Any spun cotton shapes (egg, roll, cone, teardrop…) can be covered with polymer clay to create unique jewelry pieces or decorative items. The final pieces can reflect the original nature of the shapes, or transform them in creative ways.
Spun cotton cone and egg filler
Spun Cotton Mushroom filler
35mm spun cotton balls fillers
40mm spun cotton balls fillers
Spun cotton rolls fillers
Large spun cotton ball filler
Polymer Clay Beads tutorial Step 1: drilling through the ball
As you can see, all spun cotton balls carry a hole at the bottom. However, this hole doesn’t go through the ball. For this purpose you need to “continue” the drilling to the other end, to create the tunnel which is necessary to pass the headpins or other stringing materials.
To do this you can use either the needle you use to drill your unbaked beads, or any drilling tool sharp enough to pass through the spun cotton layers. Insert the drilling tool through while rotating it, moving your tool towards the opposite side, to make the hole. Don’t use drilling tools like Dremel for example, you may destroy the shape.
Klio’s drilling tools
Always work slowly and patiently, not only for your own safety but also to protect your shape which is made out of paper and it will deform if you press or treat it hardly.
Having completed the drilling process, rotate the tool a couple of times, to make the hole perfect and similar to the original one, at the opposite side. Now you have a nicely drilled through shape and you are ready for the next step.
Step 2: Cover the ball with a first layer of clay.
To cover the shape, prepare a rather thick sheet of scrap polymer clay and run it through the pasta machine to make it smooth. Cut a strip long enough to wrap the shape.
Using Sculpey “Bake and Bond” (or any other brand you have in hand for the same use), apply some “glue” on the strip. This step is necessary, because the spun cotton shape is not smooth and so the clay will not stick on it. It is also possible to trap air between the spun cotton core and the clay which results in air bubbles after baking. Wrap the clay around the shape and then with your fingers press gently so that the clay sticks to the shape. Stretch the clay towards the top and bottom holes.
Smooth the surface of the clay with your fingers; if your item is round, roll it on your working surface with your finger to get the perfect round shape. Always remember to check that the two holes are not covered with polymer clay. If they are, use a tool to create the holes again.
Step 3: First bake.
Bake as any other polymer clay item, depending on the clay layer thickness, according to the instructions given by the manufacturer. Tent your tray with a piece of oven paper and stay close to the oven. Although it is safe to bake the spun cotton items, it is always better to be careful.
Let the beads cool down normally. When they are at normal temperature, you can cover them as usual.
Step 4: Add the second layer of clay
This first layer offers a stable and smooth surface. You can then apply more layers, depending on the technique you want to use. I suggest to use again a bit of “bake and bond” between the first and second layers, the baked and the unbaked. This process will keep the two layers together during the baking time.
Cut a strip of a skinner blend or any other clay sheet you are planning to use.
Apply some “bake and bond” on the baked bead and wrap the bead carefully.
Wrap the already baked bead with the final clay sheet and work the top and bottom parts around the holes as discussed earlier. Make sure there is no clay over the holes. After baking it will be difficult to find them if it they are covered with clay.
Cut two thin strips of clay and wrap around the bead. Make sure to cover the seam (where the green clay meets the blue clay on the picture). Your polymer clay bead is now really starting to take shape.
Using your mini cutters cut mini circles of different sizes in pairs, one for the top and one for the bottom of each beads, playing a bit with the different colors used in the basic clay sheet which covers the bead.
Stack them putting the biggest at the bottom and the smallest on top. Drill them all at once with your drilling tool (needle etc). Place them over the predrilled holes of the bead and with your drilling tool make sure that all the holes are properly aligned so that the headpin will pass properly.
You can make your future polymer clay beads even more interesting by giving them a little texture. (This has an extra advantage: it removes the fingerprints). Press slightly and gently a piece of fabric i.e. a piece of an old jeans, a sponge, anything which is large enough to wrap your bead and give it a texture.
Step 5: second bake
Bake as usual, covering the beads or items you made with some oven paper. Always stay close to the oven during the baking process and keep an eye on your items.
Note: When possible, because the ball will be covered with two layers of clay, select a spun cotton ball a bit smaller than your target bead size. Also remember that a thicker second layer is less likely to keep air bubbles between itself and the prebaked bead.
Let the beads cool down normally. When you try to pass the headpin through, always start with the original hole. As you twist your drilling tool in the hole, you create a tunnel which works much better when you follow the original direction. Sometimes, if the item is big, you may need to try a few times until you find the opposite hole. It is normal, don’t push and be patient. Use a long needle to make sure your hole is still open and try again.
You can use the smaller sizes for jewelry use and the bigger ones for craft and decorative use. Make Christmas ornaments, mobiles, enjoy this new way of using your favorite polymer clay. As spun cotton shapes are very lightweight, you can create bigger items without the challenges of the extra weight. So many shapes, so many possibilities!!!
More work by Klio:
Incredible polymer clay beads and charms mobile. We can hardly imagine the work that went into this project!
Follow our tutorial and learn how you can make a beautiful and comfortable Fabric Covered Bead Necklace using spun cotton balls are lightweight fillers.
Materials to make one fabric covered bead necklace
14 spun cotton balls, 1.18″ diameter (30mm).
A long and narrow, 4.5″ x 90″ (7.5′) strip of silk fabric. You will have to stitch two 4.5″ x 45″ pieces together.
Needle and some extra strong thread (or better, a sewing machine if you have one).
A long ruler, pencil, scissors, or craft knife, paper clip.
Spun cotton balls come in many different sizes
Directions
Step 1: Cut a long and narrow strip of fabric (4.5 inches x 7.5 feet)
At the fabric store, you probably will not find a piece of fabric that is 7.5 feet long. Fabric comes on bolts and bolts are typically 36″, 44″-45″, or 54″ wide. So you may have to sew two pieces of fabric together.
The fabric I bought came on a 45″ wide bolt. So I ended up having to sew two long and narrow strips of fabric together to achieve the required length.
To cut the fabric, I used a long ruler and a craft knife over a piece of plywood. I cut two strips, each measuring 4.5″x 45″. It’s ok to use a pair of scissors if you don’t want to mess with a sharp knife. The cut doesn’t have to be exactly straight.
Before sewing the 2 strips together, I overlapped them by about an inch. [divider_flat]
Step 2: Fold the strip of fabric into a tube shape
Fold the long piece of fabric in half lengthwise and sew the long edges together. Try to sew small stitches for a more secure seam. This is easy to accomplish but time consuming without a sewing machine.
VERY IMPORTANT: For now, the “good” side of the fabric goes inside the tube. We will turn the tube inside out once the sewing is done.
Once done with sewing, turn the tube inside out with a loop turner or a paper clip.
The paper clip method: Start by solidly anchoring the paper clip to one end of the tube (it’s ok to poke a hole in the fabric with the paper clip). Then, just slide the clip through the tube from one end to the other. The tube will turn inside out very easily. [divider_flat]
Step 3: Slide in the spun cotton balls and tie the knots
Tie the first knot where you sewed the two strips of fabric together (to hide the stitches).
Slide a ball down one end of the tube until it reaches the middle of the necklace. Twist the fabric to push the ball as close to the middle as possible and tie a simple knot.
Slide a second ball down the other end of the tube, twist the fabric and tie a new knot.
Do the same with all the balls or until the desired necklace length has been reached.
Step 4: Adding finishing touches to your necklace
For the endings to look nice, fold the fabric to create a 45 degree angle. Sew along the edges.
Iron your fabric covered bead necklace on low heat to remove all the wrinkles. You are done :)
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch. Happy crafting!
Note: If you like this tutorial, you may also enjoy my other necklace tutorial: Paper bead necklace DIY.
You can also create you own blank Kokeshi dolls by using different shape combinations. Below are a few shapes that you can use together. From left to right: Eggman Figurine Large, Eggman Figurine Small, Eggman Figurine miniature, Figurine Torso Large, Figurine Torso Small, ø 25mm Truncated Ball.
Step by step directions
Choose a combination of blank shapes that you like.
Simply glue the shapes together. For a strong hold, make sure to pour glue in the little holes underneath the shapes.
It is now time to get your paintbrushes and paint colors ready :)
Painting Suggestions.
Now that you have created your Kokeshi doll bodies, it is time to grab your paintbrushes. Here are a few painting designs you can use for inspirations.
To paint the blank dolls, I like to use acrylic paint because it dries fast, and it’s easy to work with. However, any paint that works on paper will also work on spun cotton shapes. For your kokeshi dolls to look nice and shiny, you can finish them with a clear coat varnish. Mod podge for example works very well.
You can also check out our “how to paint peg dolls tutorial” for more general painting tips and advice (link).
You can use a pen for the facial features
The last two Kokeshi painting suggestions are a little more elaborate. We used 40mm tall spun cotton eggs for the bodies, ø 45mm spun cotton balls for the heads, and ø 15mm spun cotton balls for the hair buns.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to comment, we are always here to help.
Check out our step by step tutorial and learn how to make adorable little penguin figurines from blank spun cotton shapes.
Penguin Figurines – project materials
The essentials
● 12mm spun cotton balls and 20mm spun cotton eggs.
Spun Cotton Balls
Spun Cotton Eggs
● Some glue. You can use white tacky glue or a glue gun. ● Black paint and a paint brush. Acrylic word well and dries fast. It’s also fine to use a black marker. ● A little piece of orange foam pad for the beak and feet. A piece of cardboard or strong paper painted orange would work too. ● A pair of scissors.
Optional (nice to have but not necessary):
● Bamboo skewers or toothpicks. They make it easy to hold the spun cotton shapes during the painting process. ● A pencil (to outline before painting). ● A fine black marker (to paint the eyes). ● A clear varnish to protect your work. I like to use mod podge because it’s non-toxic.
Directions
1: Paint one ball and one egg with black paint. Leave the belly and face areas blank.
It helps to use a toothpick to hold the spun cotton shapes.
2: When the paint is dry, glue the ball on top of the egg.
3: Draw the eyes with the black pen
4: Cut the feet and the beak in the piece of orange foam and glue them on.
More Penguin Figurine DIY Craft ideas:
You can also use different type of spun cotton shapes or combine spun cotton shapes and pipe cleaners.
Pipe Cleaner and Spun Cotton Shapes combo
“Eggman” Spun Cotton Shape
More Winter DIY craft ideas
You can also use spun cotton shapes to create Polar Bear Figurines. Here are a couple of ideas.
In the above right-side picture, the large penguin and bear are made with 45mm balls for the bodies and 30mm balls for the heads (and 15mm balls for the bear paws)
We hope you enjoyed these penguin craft ideas. As always, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch or to leave a comment. Happy crafting!
Follow our detailed tutorial and learn how you can make beautiful and elegant crepe paper flowers out of streamers. We will use poppies as example and will provide plenty of pictures to help you along the way.
Crepe Paper Poppies – List of Materials
Crepe paper streamers – 1 roll (1 – 3/4″ wide). You can make dozens of flowers with a single roll. I recommend white to start because glue spills don’t really show on white.
Spun cotton balls – white – 15 mm diameter (.59 inches). 1 ball per flower.
Sharp scissors.
Pencil.
Low temperature glue gun and glue sticks.
Stem wire. The wire I used for these flowers is 18 gauge and 18″ long. I found it at Michaels.
Floral tape.
A small piece of cardboard to make your petal template. Or you can just print my template on regular paper and cut it out (link below).[/threecol_two_last] [divider_flat]
Directions
Note: I recommend a low temperature glue gun so you don’t burn your fingers.
Step 1: Gather all your materials.
Make sure to set up in a location where there is no air circulating (the petals fly off easily).
Step 2: Make one petal template for all your future crepe paper flowers
You can download the template (link below) or just copy from the picture. (It is not an exact science). My petals are 1-11/16″ wide and 1-1/2″ tall.
Fold the crepe streamer 6 times onto itself. Outline the shape of a petal on the top layer. Cut out all layers at once with a sharp pair of scissors.
Step 4: Glue the spun cotton ball onto the stem wire.
Pour a generous amount of glue over the hole and immediately insert the stem (all spun cotton balls have a little hole). Wait 5 seconds for the glue to become moldable. Quickly, shape the glue into a cone shape with your index and thumb fingers.
It is important to create a little “cone” of glue under the ball. It will make for a nice surface to glue the petals to.
Step 5: Make the support cone a little bigger
Pour a little more glue all around the cone, wait 5 seconds for the glue to become moldable, press down with your thumb and index fingers to shape as a cone.
Step 6: Add petal #1.
Pour a horizontal bead of glue about 3/8″ long right at the junction between the spun cotton ball and the support cone. Line up the bottom of the petal with the bottom of the cone and press the petal against the glue. The petal should cup around the ball.
Step 7: Add petal #2.
Petal #2 needs to overlap petal #1 by a little bit (about 1/3 “).
Step 8: Add petal #3.
Petal #3 should fit right between petal #1 and petal #2, overlapping them a little bit on each side. Glue into place using the same technique as for petal #1 and 2. When done, your three first petals should look evenly distributed around the ball.
Step 9: Add petal #4.
Pour a 3/4″ horizontal bead of glue across petals #1 and 3. This glue line should be a little bit higher up (maybe 1/4″) than the first 3 petals glue lines. Position petal #4. Press down against the glue. Petal #4 should cup around the ball
Step 10: Add petal #5.
Following the same technique, glue petal #5 exactly between petals #2 and 3.
Step 11: Add petal #6.
Still with the same technique, glue petal #6 exactly between petals #3 and 1.
Step 12: Apply the first piece of floral tape.
We want to give the crepe paper flower a clean look by covering the very bottom of the petals and hiding all the imperfections. Cut a 5″ long piece of tape. Start twisting the tape around the stem at about 1/2″ below the flower. Go about 2 turns. Then work your way up the stem until the tape covers the very bottom of the petals. Stay up for about 3 turns. Work your way down until you run out of tape.
Step 13: Finish wrapping up the stem with floral tape.
Cut a 16″ long piece of tape, start where you ended, and work your way down. Maintain a sharp angle and moderate tension.
This is it You made it!
Try to make another crepe paper flower, you will be an expert in no time. For variety, you can try different color crepe paper rolls. You can also paint the spun cotton balls.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found some inspiration for your next projects. As usual, do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Crepe Paper Flowers – same technique, more project ideas:
Follow our tutorial and learn how you can make Vintage Style Easter Ornaments from spun cotton balls and colored card stock.
The templates for the bunny and chicken silhouettes can be downloaded below.
PROJECT MATERIALS
Colored stock paper or cardboard (make sure the two sides are colored).
40mm spun cotton balls. The downloadable silhouette templates below are just the right size to work with 40mm balls.
A good pair of sharp scissors
A pack of Christmas ornament hooks (see picture below). You could also make your own with small gauge metal wire.
A few pieces of colored ribbon
Paint and paintbrush.
A glue gun or tacky glue.
A rubber band.
A bread knife.
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STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL
Step 1: Gather all your materials
40mm diameter spun cotton balls
A pack of hooks
Step 2: Paint the spun cotton balls. We created our own off-white color by mixing a little bit of yellow paint into white paint.
A toothpick comes in handy to hold the balls.
Step 3: Outline the chicken and rabbit silhouettes onto the colored stock paper (you can download our silhouettes or create your own). Once the silhouettes are outlined, carefully cut them out with the pair of scissors.
Step 4: Draw ø 40 mm circles on the silhouettes to mark where the balls will ultimately be positioned. Then draw a second smaller circle within the larger circles. Finally draw a vertical line in the middle of your circles.
You can use a coffee pod to draw the inner circles.
Step 5: Cut each silhouette in half. Then cut out the inside part of the inner circles.
Step 6: Tie a rubber band around a ball so as to create two identical halves. Draw a pencil line along the rubber band, remove the rubber band, and with the bread knife, make a quarter inch incision along the line.
Repeat with the other ball.
Step 7: Pour a little glue in the holes and insert the metal loops. Hold the loops in position for about 15-30 seconds until the glue is dry. If you are using tacky glue, you will have to wait a couple hours for the glue to dry.
You can re-shape the metal loops a little bit so that they are easier to insert in the holes.
Step 8: Simply slide the cardboard silhouettes into the incisions.
Step 9: Use little pieces of ribbon to hang your finished ornaments.
You are done :)
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and and as usual, do not hesitate to send us your questions or use the comment fields below.
Check out our easy tutorial and learn how to make these irresistible mini pipe cleaner penguins. They are great to decorate the house during the Holiday season and only require a few inexpensive materials.
Pipe cleaner penguins – List of materials needed
To make one pipe cleaner penguin, you will need:
1) One 10mm diameter Spun Cotton Ball and one 18mm Spun Cotton Egg. The resulting pipe cleaner penguin will be about 1.5 inches tall. For a bigger penguin, you can use larger balls and larger eggs.
2) One small strand of orange pipe cleaner and one small strand of black pipe cleaner.
3) A black ball pen, a dab of orange paint (acrylic is fine), and a very fine paint brush.
4) A pair of wire cutters and a pair of pliers.
The basic technique for this craft is to squeeze spun cotton shapes inside of pipe cleaner strands.
When a piece of pipe cleaner is twisted around a spun cotton shape, it creates pressure around the shape and locks it into place.
Step by step instructions
1: Prepare the feet and the head.
For the feet, simply make a doughnut with a small piece of orange pipe cleaner. For the head, grab a spun cotton ball and draw the eyes with the ball pen and paint a small nose with the orange paint. I used a toothpick to hold the ball. IMPORTANT: Make sure the ball’s hole is on top of the head, not on the bottom.
2: Tighten the pipe cleaner around the penguin’s head
Wrap the pipe cleaner around the head and give it 3 to 4 twists. Make sure the pipe cleaner is tight around the ball before you start twisting. You can use the pliers to help.
3: Tighten the pipe cleaner around the penguin’s body and feet
With one hand, hold the feet and the body of your penguin together and with the other hand, twist and tighten the 2 strands of pipe cleaner around them.
TIP: position the portion of the feet where the two ends of the pipe cleaner meet towards the back where it doesn’t show.
4: Cut off the excess pipe cleaner.
You can also leave the two strands uncut and use them to display your penguin.
You are done :)
hope you enjoyed this tutorial. You can also use the pipe cleaner and spun cotton shape technique to create different pipe cleaner animals such as rabbits or bears – the possibilities are endless.
Thank you for reading, good luck with your penguin projects, and happy crafting!
