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).

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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!