With Easter just around the corner, I thought it was time to focus my attention on some fun and cute Easter crafts. I couldn’t go past this idea for a wool (yarn) basket and pompom chicken. Too cute, and too easy!
Last year I made the kids a set of bunny ears to wear on Easter day. This turned out to be a great idea because they’ve used them on and off all year round in their dress up box. Let’s see how long the baskets last…
I’ve never made a wool basket before, but when Kate from Together Sunday posted a great yarn basket craft on her live instagram feed, I felt inspired. I came up with the idea to make it Easter-y by including a pompom chicken in the wool basket. It may, or may not, lay actual chocolate eggs on Easter day!
This activity is not for the faint hearted. Let me just start with that.
It’s going to get very messy, and you and your children’s hands are going to get very, very gluey! But these Easter yarn baskets really are fun to make and my little miss 4 loved getting in amongst the glue mixture. Just make sure they have old clothes on!
A few tips before you start:
- make sure you get a really good strong PVA glue otherwise the wool won’t harden up.
- I actually found found a mix of half and half Mod Podge and PVA worked best for us, so try that if you have some.
- This craft takes 2-3 days for it to really dry and harden up, so make sure if you are creating it for Easter you plan ahead!
- You’ll know when it’s ready to take off the bowl, because the basket will be firm, but slightly flexible.
Anyway, that’s just a few top of mind tips I thought of. Aside from that, more or less anything goes with this one.
Older kids can really take their time with this, and get the wool twirled around the bowl just right. More on the bottom, less on the sides, then a little more for the rim would be ideal. Younger kids will just throw the wool around, and you may need to help a little. Just don’t get too hung up on the perfect bowl shape, it’s all about creating!
Easter wool basket and pompom chicken
Wool basket
What you need
Wool
1/2 cup strong PVA glue (or 1/4 cup PVA glue and 1/4 cup Mod Podge)
1 small bowl
A container to mix the glue in
Plastic wrap
1 Tbs water
Tinfoil (optional)
What to do
1. Prep your surface first. I did this by laying out a piece of tinfoil on our work surface. This will catch any dripping glue (which they could be a lot of!) and your bowl won’t stick to it.
2. Turn your bowl upside down and wrap it with the plastic wrap.
3. In the container mix half a cup of strong PVA glue (or PVA/Mod Podge mix) to about 1 Tbsp of water. Don’t add too much water, just enough to make the glue slightly runny.
4. Cut off roughly 2 meters of wool and place it into the bowl with the glue. Now get your hands in there, and give it a good mix around.
5. When the wool is completely covered with the glue begin pulling it out, and dropping the wool onto the bowl. You’ll be wrapping the bowl, but also going back and forth making loops to change direction.
6. Allow your bowl to dry out in a warm spot. If you’re in a rush for it to dry, you could use a hairdryer to speed things along. We weren’t in a rush though, so we just left them out on the table in front of a sunny window for a couple of days.
7. Once the wool has become firm, it’s time to remove the plastic wrap. Slide the wool and plastic wrap off the bowl first. Then carefully peel away the plastic wrap from the wool. The wool bowl will pull and bend a bit, but just keep peeling away the wrap. Once you have all the plastic wrap off, leave the bowl in a sunny spot to really dry out and firm up.
Chicken Pompom
What you need
Yellow wool
Red card
Googly eyes
Craft glue
What to do
1. Wrap the yellow wool around 3 of your fingers about 60 times to make the body of the chicken.
2.Tie a pice of wool around the middle of the string and then trim the wraps. Check out 3 different ways to make pompoms if you’re unsure how to do this.
3. Now make a smaller pompom by wrapping the string around just 2 fingers about 60 times, tying it in the middle, then trimming.
4. Glue the small pompom to the top of the larger one.
5. Glue on eyes and make a beak from the red card. Just cut a small diamond shape, then bend in the middle, and glue this on.
Now add some shredded paper, or extra wool to your basket, and place your chick inside it’s woollen nest. If you like you could add some yummy small chocolate ‘egg’s too. Or, perhaps just wait until Easter to see what the Easter bunny might bring.
If you love this craft idea, be sure to follow us on instagram for more ideas, check out our other Easter craft ideas, or find more great ideas in our Creative arts and crafts section
