Make an Easy Winter Kids Craft – Snowflakes made with Pipe Cleaners and Beads!
I attempted a post on this exact craft last year but I had a look at it and they turned out a bit ugly in the end. LOL. So I’m trying it again for a do-over.
You will need:
- sparkly pipe cleaners
- beads and pony beads
That’s it!
Each snowflake takes 1 and 1/2 pipe cleaners. Cut 2 standard length pipe cleaners in half (so you have 3 pieces 6 inches long).
This time I’m using sparkly pipe cleaners. They really stand out. But I’ll warn you the beads didn’t slide on it quite so easily.
Take 2 pieces of pipe cleaner and overlap them in the middle. Bend them around each other to make an X.
Add a third one to the middle of the X and bend it to make a star.
This is a great craft to teach young ones about making patterns. They also will develop fine motor skills sliding the beads onto the pipe cleaners.
Start with 6 pony beads and slide them onto the pipe cleaners. The dollar tree has a lot of color choices for pony beads. You can also purchase them at Walmart or the craft store.
Push them right up to the centre of the snowflake star.
I found sticking with a pattern looks better than going freestyle with your beads. See if you agree.
Last year my daughter and I made the examples above with random silver, white, blue and clear beads.
Since the sparkly pipe cleaners are stiff I found if I put the order so that the last bead has a slightly smaller hole as the end-everything stayed in place. If your beads are threatening to shift and might fall off then simply bend the end into a loop.
The loop is also perfect for hanging a ribbon. Hang it from a door knob or a curtain rod for a wintery snowflake sun catcher.
Have fun making these beaded snowflakes. Below are a few more easy winter kids crafts and projects we have done in the past.
Make an EASY Garden Decoration From Wire, Marbles and Beads
Wire Art – Suncatcher / Wind Spinner
This gorgeous craft will make you feel like an artist and is easily made in just 15 mins! Make it in the summer for the outdoors to spin in the breeze or in the winter hang it in the window as a sun catcher.
You will need:
- marbles, beads, glass stones
- sparkly nail polish
- Galvanized Steel Wire 14 Gauge
- 2 pairs of pliers, one with wire cutting edge or wire cutters
- clear fishing line
Simply get started with a bag of medium sized flat glass stones from the dollar store. Put a piece of newspaper or wax paper down to protect your work space.
Paint one side of the stone with sparkly nail polish. Allow to dry.
If you paint the flat bottom side of the stone the glitter shines through so you only need to paint one side. You could do a similar effect by putting glue on the stone and dipping it in a bowl of glitter. We went with nail polish which dries so quickly and we have lots!
After your stones or marbles are ready, cut a 12 inch length of wire. We used 14 Gauge Galvanized Steel Wire. You can cut your sizes longer or shorter depending on your own preference. At times the ends can be a bit sharp so protect your surface by using a scrap of wood or a cutting board.
If you don’t have a jewellers mandrel you can look around the house for something similar. I had a wooden dowel that looks just like the handle of a wooden spoon. Find something to wrap the wire around and use the pliers to further twist and squeeze the wire into the desired shape.
Using flat glass decorative stones will require you to flatten the wire slightly to hold it in place. If you are using marbles the twists will be nearly perfect for sliding the marble in and pinch the wire slightly to hold it in place.
My first attempt at this was a bit frustrating. As I pulled one part of the wire the shape would change and the stone would fall out. But then I got the hang of things. Once you see how cool it looks as the spiral gets a bit crazy it feels like your making a real piece of wire art!
You may need to use a use both of your pliers to twist the wire how you want it. This will help to focus bending a particular section of the wire without affecting another part of it that you are already happy with.
Cut a length of clear fishing line. This is a must have for your craft supplies if you don’t already have it. You can get fishing line from the hardware store, craft store and dollar store. It has many uses including bracelet making or hanging decorations from the ceiling when your having a party.
I like how each one turns out completely different. Shape the wire in a tight spiral or loose and whimsical. Add a bead on the end. Or several beads throughout the wire. Use a giant bead instead of a flat stone. Or use marbles!
These are dollar store marbles that you might put in the bottom of a vase. I need to locate some play marbles and see if we can find some cool ones.
These shiny beads are metallic pony beads and very inexpensive (around $3 from Walmart if I remember correctly)For this wire project the hole needs to be fairly wide. Choose beads with big holes if you are using glass beads. I had these left over from a previous bracelet making project. The nail polish used here is a speckled multi coloured one. It looks fantastic in the sun!
So there you have it! Every one of these turns into a unique bit of wire art. Hung from a branch with fishing line will have it spinning in the breeze.
I hope this inspires you to make some wire art suncatchers/wind spinners for yourself. I just made 10 and I’m so pleased with these I think I will keep on making them and try selling them at the craft table at work.
Don’t you love it when a craft exceeds your expectations! You really should try this!
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Beaded SnowFlake Suncatcher-Easy Craft for Kids!
We love Beads and Pipe-cleaners are a craft cupboard essential. So on this snowy winter’s day the kids and I made snow flakes to hang in our windows-and we used just those 2 ingredients. Beads and Pipe-Cleaners! Sparkly beads look so lovely in the window-so this will make a gorgeous sun-catcher.
Cut a 3 pipe-cleaners in half. I think the sparkly style would have looked gorgeous but today we only found turquoise and white which both give a nice cool look.
Take the 3 half length pipe-cleaners and twist in the middle so they hold the shape of a snowflake.
String on plastic beads. As long as the bead hole is big enough to slide a pipe-cleaner through it will work. But if your crafter is younger you may want to use pony beads-the type of plastic bead with big holes.
We chose white, clear, silver, turquoise and blue. As you get close to the end bend the pipe-cleaner so that the beads don’t slide off.
Find a scrap of narrow ribbon to tie to an end and hang from the window. Stand back and admire!
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