Spring Scrap Yarn Bird

Cute and easy DIY project to decorate your home!

Every time I plan to knit or crochet, I buy spare yarn ‘just in case’. Crochet patterns tend to be quite dense so more yarn is usually needed. With knitting projects, I tend to waste yarn because I am just not very good at it yet. Recently, I started learning how to weave and that too requires yarn. Needless to say - I always have a bunch of scrap yarn around to use for various recycling DIYs!

Birds welcome spring - How do you make a bird out of yarn?

Recently, I made two lovely scrap yarn projects I got inspired to make a while ago and today I’ll share one with you. I’ve chosen the sweet scrap yarn bird perfect for the coming Easter! The cute bird looks lovely as part of the table centerpiece or you can easily hang it around a bunch of pussy willow branches in a vase. Great for the kitchen, dining room or even the kids’ bedroom! It only takes under 30 minutes to make and will compliment beautifully our recent Spring Decor Ideas for your home!

Spring Scrap Yarn Bird

You’ll need:

• yarn scraps - three kinds (colours)
• 10 x 5 cm small piece of heavier weight paper
• yellow embroidery floss
• crochet hook size 2
• dried whole pepper berries
• glue
• scissors
• sewing thread to hang the bird

Instructions

Preparing the yarn strands

Begin by choosing three different colours or types of yarn from your scraps. Of course, you can use one type yarn as well, if the yarn scraps are limited. However, three different yarn types will help give the bird a bit of design. I have chosen thicker acrylic yarn in nude, thinner silk yarn in soft grey and also neutral cotton. I purchased the cotton yarn for weaving projects and it is a hand-spun option which gives it a lovely uneven texture. Ideal for the front of the bird!

To wrap the yarn into three bunches of strands I used a block of linoleum for block printing. You can also use heavier paper or a piece of cardboard box, whichever is the easiest. Only one rectangle is needed in approximate 10 x 15 cm size. The length of the yarn or the thickness of the strand bunch will affect how big or chunky the bird is in the end.

The bird’s body

Choose the yarn you’d like to form the back of the bird and wrap it along the longest side of the rectangle. The width you can see is approx 2 cm. Repeat the same for the two other types of yarn using the shorter side as shown on the image. Remove the yarn by carefully cutting each side with scissors to have three bunches as shown. You can also use a piece of yarn to secure the yarn for cutting, if it makes it easier.

Take the longest strand bunch and place it on flat surface horizontally. Choose which yarn bunch you’d like to be the front of your bird and place it vertically on the long strand bunch as shown. Wrap the longer strands over the shorter bunch and secure with a piece of yarn. Then take the shorter strands and repeat the same towards the front.

Then take the third short bunch of yarn strands, carefully fold in the middle and secure with a piece of yarn to form a small ‘head’. This piece will be in the middle of the other two bunches and form the sides of the bird, as well as add volume. Place all yarn strand bunches together as shown and tie the ends with a piece of yarn, forming the birds body and tail. Cut any yarn pieces sticking out of the tail to make it neat.

The last step - eyes and the bill

The last step is adding the bill and eyes. I decided to hang the bird on a bunch of pussy willows so no feet were needed. For the eyes I simply used a couple of dried whole pepper berries attached with the glue. You can also use glass, wax or plastic beads but I wanted to use something easily accessible. Then comes the final touch - the bill. Take yellow embroidery thread and make a simple crochet chain made of 6 basic stitches. Cut the hanging leftover thread on each side, fold the chain in the middle and use glue to attach the bill to the bird.

The beautiful scrap yarn bird DIY project is finished - you can decorate your home for the spring!

Did you enjoy this crafty project? Pin it for later to one of your ‘SPRING IDEAS’ or ‘DIY & CRAFTS’ Pinterest boards!