Part II of Carrot-mania! Pipe Cleaner Carrots!
I think these might be my favorite carrots for their funkiness and charm. I also found them easier to master than the crepe paper carrots posted about earlier. You really only nee pipe cleaners for this project, though wire cutters come in handy. I ended up adding some dye from a standard ink pad to mine to tone down the fluorescent orange of the pipe cleaners.
Because there’s no hot glue involved in this project, it is a great one for kids and is very easy to clean up.
You will need:
- pipe cleaners in shades of yellow, orange and green.
- wire cutters
- a dark brown ink pad (optional).
- Start with one cleaner and bend the end up about ½’. With the long end, start wrapping the cleaner around the end. I liked the look of loose, uneven wrapping rather than very carefully wrapped carrots.
- As you work toward the thicker end of the carrot, simply wrap the cleaner more loosely or overlap them a bit more. You may need to add another pipe cleaner to the first to make a large carrot. Simple twist the ends of the cleaners together.
- When you get to the top, bend the last 1/2” of the cleaner across the carrot and tuck the very end in the center. You’ll twist the green carrot tops around this center bar.
- Cut two lengths of green wire 3” to 4” long and bend into a V. I left one end longer than the other for mine. Place each V under the center bar you created and twist once.
- To make the color of mine a bit aged looking, I lightly brushed a dark brown ink pad against the carrot and let it dry.
Happy spring!