How to Make an Animal Pen With Pipe Cleaners
Bend pipe cleaners into animal shapes and attach them to the end of a pen for a fun gift, especially for back-to-school season. Children and adults alike will enjoy making or receiving these trinkets. Kids can take them to school, and the pens lend a light touch to an office or cubicle in the adult world. The materials are inexpensive, the time required is brief, and these pens will bring a smile to everyone's face.
Instructions
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Cut a 4-inch, a 9-inch and a 6-inch length of pipe cleaner. These will form the legs, arms and tail of a monkey shape for your pen.
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Bend the 4-inch length in half for the legs and turn the ends up for feet. Curve the 9-inch length into a scroll shape for the arms and turn the ends up for hands.
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Glue the legs where they bend in the middle and the center of the arms to a pom pom. Glue another pom pom on top, sandwiching the pipe cleaners between the pom poms. Glue another pom pom on top of the first two for the head.
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Glue two eyes on the head and a small pom pom for a nose. Glue the 6-inch length of pipe cleaner to the back of the monkey for a tail. Let all the glue dry.
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Wind the tail around your pen so that the monkey is hanging on the end. Leave enough room so you can hold the pen and write with it comfortably.
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Tips & Warnings
Choose an animal with a long tail such as a snake, a tiger or an iguana.
If your animal does not have a long tail, wrap the legs around the pen to hold it.
Instead of using pom poms, you can wrap a pipe cleaner around the end of a pen, then shape it into a head or body. Attach legs, arms and tail by twisting them onto the pipe cleaners instead of gluing them.
Use markers to make spots or stripes on the animals.
Adults should handle the hot glue to avoid injury to children.
References
- Photo Credit colored pencils - art image by Kirubeshwaran from Fotolia.com
