Discover how to make pinecone owls with ease! Whether you choose felt or colored paper, cotton balls, and a dash of googly-eyed charm, this guide has you covered. Dive into the step-by-step tutorial (video included), a full supply list, and a free printable template for all the owl’s features—from beak to wings.These whimsical owls are perfect for personalizing in any color, and can easily be turned into ornaments. Get ready to make your own flock of owls made with pinecones.
About This Craft
I have THE most adorable owl craft activity to share with you all today!
You can either make it for a fun winter time “snowy owl” activity, or for any time of the year really because you can make it in various colors so it doesn’t have to be limited to a winter time activity at all.
This project just happens to be perfect for any owl lovers out there that need some fresh ideas…or could just be used as a fun thing to do to keep kids busy on a day that needs to be spent indoors.
This is not just specifically an activity for kids either, if you want to make them more intricately, it’s a perfect idea for for adults too.
- To see all of my homemaking articles, go here.
- To see all of my craft-related articles, go here.
- To see my kid/parent-related articles, go here.
Suggested Supplies
Here are some ideas of what you’ll need to make your owls:
Please note: I am an affiliate with Amazon.com. When you purchase through my suggested product links, the cost for you is the same, but I do receive a small commission for everything in your shopping cart. Thanks so much for helping me support my kids!
Bulk Package of Natural Pinecones-24 Pack
Buying them in bulk will save a bit of money if you're making lots of owls.
For a more intricate owl, here are some other embellishments you could try using:
- Glitter/ Glitter Glue
- Colored Cotton Balls (see my cotton ball dying tutorial here)
- Metallic Spray Paint
How To Save Money Making Them
I always like to suggest to just look through the items that you already have on hand to see if they will work before you go out and purchase anything…especially if this is just a “rainy day activity”.
I even went out in my yard and scrounged around for pinecones to use when I made these with my kids, lol.
If you need to buy crafting supplies, here are some hints to help you save money (at least for those of us in the U.S.).
I know that Dollar Tree usually has a pretty good selection of craft supplies that can be purchased inexpensively, but did you know that most of the craft supplies found at Dollar Tree are actually a few cents cheaper at Wal-Mart?
I noticed this years ago, that Wal-Mart tries hard to be competitive with the pricing of similar items that are often found at Dollar Tree. So, I recommend checking Wal-Mart for what you need first...then try the Dollar store route.
If you are making a lot of these owls, definitely buy your pine cones, felt, cotton balls, and any other supplies you’ll need in bulk (the multipacks) though to save yourself some money (always checking the price per ounce/unit first before buying).
Free Printable Owl Shapes PDF Template
*As per my usual request. Every “free printable” I have on this website is for personal use only, or in a classroom setting.
Please contact me for any template use beyond creating these for personal or school use (not to be used for material gain, or sold in any way).*
This owl craft printable template is just some basic shapes for wings, beak, feet, eyes, and “eyebrows”/ears. I recommend printing it out on a thicker card stock, then cut out the shape (on the card stock) with scissors.
Then it’s easy to place the shape cut out on top of your desired color of felt and trace around it. Use that traced line to cut the shapes out of the felt (colored paper instead of felt works too).
I am obviously not a professional graphic designer…just giving you guys some basic “owl-like” shapes to make these.
I tried to make the various owl shapes so that they are the size that you will need if you’re using a medium-sized pine cone to make yours (which is also about the size of a medium sized apple) .
If you need larger or smaller shape sizes maybe try printing it at a different size and adjusting it as needed.
If you don’t like the shape options that I provide for my free printable owl template, here are three other cute owl template ideas as well:
How To Make Them (printable instructions & video found here):
How To: Making Owls With Pine Cones
This fun and easy crafting owl brings a touch of nature indoors. It is the perfect activity for some cheap entertainment to keep those little hands busy...although it's one of the more fun owl crafts for adults too.
Materials
- Template (provided within the post, printed out on card stock)
- Pine Cones (dry and free of bugs)
- Cotton Balls (about 5 for each pine cone, depending on the size)
- Felt or Crafting Paper (in desired colors)
- Wiggly Eyes (2 for each pine cone)
- Quick Dry Tacky Glue (or desired adhesive)
Tools
- Fabric Markers
- Scissors
- Glue Gun (optional)
- Crafting Tweezers (optional)
Instructions
Prepare a crafting surface area by putting down crafting paper, plastic (garbage bags work, or parchment paper (or just make it somewhere that can get messy).
Print out the free printable owl shapes template on thick cardstock (free template found here).
Gather the rest of your needed supplies.
Pull pieces of the cotton balls apart (fluffing them up) and gently stuff the cotton between the prongs of the pine cone. Be careful not to cut yourself, pine cones are sharp. Once the pine cone is as fluffy and filled as you desire, set it aside.
Decide which owl feature shapes you want from the provided template, cut them out with scissors (*I have updated the templates since some of these pics were taken).
Place them on the desired color of felt or crafting paper and trace the shapes using a marker or pen.
Cut out the shapes.
(optional) Outline the cutouts and draw a fun "feather-like" pattern on the wing pieces with a fabric marker. There are many ways your could embellish them further.
Glue the owl features on as desired, make sure to include the beak, eyes, "eye brows"/ears/hood, and feet. Set aside to dry.- Allow to dry completely, and handle with care, before transporting them elsewhere or using to decorate with.
Notes
Owl in the top image was made using watercolor cardstock paper.
Video Instructions
How To Turn Them Into Ornaments
However you decided to make your owl, there are a few ways that you can turn it into a cute owl ornament to hang somewhere fun, or even on a tree as part of your holiday decor.
I found this handy little video on YouTube that teaches you how to turn pine cones into ornaments, they show several ways to hang/ tie them.
I feel like they teach you the basics on how to hang a pine cone, and make it ornamental, enough so that I don’t need to make a video to teach you how too.
I’m definitely not taking credit for the video, so please watch, share, and follow the creators.
How My Kids’ Owls Turned Out
Here’s what the owls that my kids and I made look like.
We used colored felt for these ones, and I used colored paper for the one that I made for the main article image.
I think that my kiddo’s little owls turned out super cute…but I may be a little biased ;).
What do you think? Totally worth the time and effort to make these, right? They’re pretty dang inexpensive to make as well.
Don’t forget that you can easily switch things up with these little owls and each kid can make them in whatever colors or combinations of things that they desire to really add a personal touch.
FAQ’s
When I have seen other bloggers write about making a similar craft projects/ or just making pine cone crafts for kids in general, I’m usually pretty surprised that they list these as “pinecone crafts for preschoolers”, “owl craft preschool”, or “owl craft for kindergarten”. Pine cones are SHARP and can cut someone pretty easily!
In fact, with the last package of pine cones that I bought, I somehow managed to cut myself with one just when I was opening the packaging…
So if you’re going to be making these with younger kids, it may be a good idea to add the cotton to the pine cone yourself first before having them do the rest, or at the very least teach them that if you hold the pine cone at the top and the bottom that is typically the least sharp part of the pine cone to hold when handling them. You could also inspect the pine cones ahead of time for the extra “pokey” pieces and pick them off.
The age appropriateness that I recommend for making an owl with a pinecone, or for crafting with pine cones in general, is 8 years old and up…but use your best judgement of course. I know that every kid is different and has different skill levels.
It also wouldn’t hurt to have a basic first-aid kit handy while making them too, just as a precaution.
Pine cones found in nature are perfect for this project, or any other crafting project you would like to do.
However, often there are microscopic bugs/critters (or even bird poop) that are in those cones found in the outdoors. If you choose to make your owls with pine cones from outside, make sure to prep the pine cones first.
Here is a link for a simple tutorial on how to clean and prepare pine cones for crafting. If that seems like too much of a hassle, then I strongly suggest buying the ones found in stores (or on Amazon) because the manufacturer has already prepped them for in home use and we don’t need to bring in any critters into our homes unnecessarily.
*I will add more question and answers as they get sent to me.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and supporting my endeavors to make people’s lives a little easier/better/more affordable.
If you liked this post, or found it helpful in any way, please make sure to share it with your family, friends, and co-workers via social media.
Or you could even send them the direct link via email. Whichever way you choose to spread the love, I super appreciate it! ~Sarah
How To Follow & Support This Site
- If you would like to subscribe to my email list, go here.
- Make sure to follow along via social media, by going here.
- If you would like to learn how to really show your support to this site (at no cost to you), go here.
- If you would like to make a direct donation to the site, go here.
Check Out My Other Kids Content
- To see all of my homemaking articles, go here.
- To see all of my craft-related articles, go here.
- To see my kid/parent-related articles, go here.
Here are some direct links to several of my other crafty/kid posts that you may also like:
Various crafts to check out
**Please note: This idea was originally shared to this blog on December 27, 2019, but needed to be completely overhauled. It has since been updated to improve user experience, provide better photos, add video instruction, to provide a free printable template, as well as to make it as shareable as possible across the social medias. It will continually be updated to remain relevant.*