How to Make Pinecone Animals (Penguin, Owl, & Mouse)

Learn how to make pinecone animals including a penguin, owl, and mouse. They are fun as ornaments and as natural play toys for school age children.

If you enjoy working with natural materials, also see these homemade ice suncatchers for the winter garden.

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How to Make Pinecone Animals

There are plenty of animals you can make from pinecones. The instructions here are for owls, penguins, and mice. Depending on the shape of pinecone, you can also make rabbits, hedgehogs, cats, dogs, birds, and more.

Keep in mind that while these will make nice toys, they are quite delicate and have lots of little parts that can break off, so they’re only suited to children who would enjoy gentle play without the temptation to teethe on them.

These cute critters also work as ornaments: jump add a loop of ribbon to hang from a tree or mantle.

Or, make a bunch and hot glue them to a wreath for a creative greeting at your front door.

I’ve dressed up these pinecone animals with scraps of felt and beads. You could also use other scrap fabric or whatever you have in your craft box.

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Contents

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How to Make Pinecone Animals

Supplies

I’ve shown everything in the photo (below) and linked to some basic supplies on Amazon.

Scroll down for details on making each of the animals.

If you want to make one specific animal, the instructions for each one list which supplies I used.

1. Heated glue dispenser
2. Glue sticks for heated glue dispenser
3. Self-adhesive styrofoam circles – dollar store (owl eyes)
4. Walnut (mouse head)
5. Wool fleece (owl face and belly) | I use this stuff for all sorts of toy making – see them here
6. Small Christmas tree balls (penguin head) | wood beads or paintable styrofoam balls would also work (they just need to be the right size for the pinecone)
7. Acrylic craft paints
8. Paint brush
9. Pinecones | The owl is made from the rounder pinecone. The penguin and mouse are made from long, narrow pinecones.
10. Wooden craft sticks – dollar store | toothpicks would be fine too
11. Pre-twisted rush twine (mouse tail)  | I was given a huge roll of this stuff free. You could use twine string, craft pipe cleaner, or felt
12. Wool felt (penguin scarf) | I strongly prefer wool felt to acrylic. It looks and feels much nicer
12. Cardboard (feet, beaks, hands)

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These pinecone animals are included in this ebook:

1Pinecone Penguin

This guy is my favorite!

Tips for making a Pinecone Penguin

1. Everything is joined together using hot glue.

2. Use a long, narrow pinecone. Position it upside-down (see how the seeds are facing up, not down–just looks better in my opinion).

3. Trim off both ends of the pinecone to provide a flat surface for attaching the head and feet. I used garden pruning shears to clip the pinecones (they can be tough to cut!).

4. Head is made from a small, painted Christmas ornament. You could use any round item (like a wood bead) that can be painted. Paint the entire ball white, allow to dry, then add black details as shown in photo (top of head and eyes).

5. Nose is a piece of wood craft stick painted orange. If you want a baby penguin, use a triangle of orange or black cardstock for a smaller nose.

6. Wings, which are placed along the sides, can be made from any black paper or cardstock.

7. The feet can be pieces of pinecone, wood, cardboard or anything else sturdy that can be made into feet-like shapes.

8. The red wool felt scarf hides the glue holding the head on. It’s simply a rectangle of wool felt with the ends cut to look like fringe. Measure a piece right on your penguin before cutting the ends.

More Ideas for Kids

35 Playful & Practical Garden Ideas for Kids
Sow, grow, garden art & crafts, and outdoor imaginary play.

2Pinecone Owl

Tips for making a Pinecone Owl

1. Everything is joined together using hot glue.

2. Use a round / oval pinecone for the owl.

3. The head and belly are defined with wool fleece. You could also use cotton balls or toy stuffing (tease it first with your fingers so it forms one piece). Use a chopstick to push the fleece into the crevices of the pinecone or hot glue it in place. The head area is smaller than the belly. When it looks good, you’re ready for the next step.

4. I used self-adhesive styrofoam for the eyes. I painted them a chestnut orange, let the paint dry, and then added black pupils with dots of white paint. You could also use eyes ready made for toy making.

5. The beak is a triangle of cardstock painted brown and folded in the middle, attached with hot glue.

6. Glue the whole thing to a twig and you’re done.

Love owls?
See more owl garden art and craft ideas here.

3Pinecone Mice

I used to make these when I was a kid. Truthfully, I find them kind of goofy looking but little kids seem to find them very sweet.

Tips for making a Pinecone Mouse

I made my mouse standing up but you can also make them standing on all four hands and feet if you prefer (there’s lots of images online to refer to).

1. Everything is attached together using hot glue.

2. Use a narrow pinecone, upside-down (just looks better this way). Cut off the tips of the pinecone to allow good gluing surfaces.

Related: Growing Near Walnut Trees: What’s Possible

3. The head is a walnut. I’ve also seen this done with dry corn husks. Use anything that looks right to you. I glued on pinecone seeds for ears, used dabs of black paint for the eyes, the nose is a dab of pink paint, and I used a black sharpie to dry fine whiskers from the nose. Walnut warning: the walnut is quite heavy for the head and may make your mouse tip over. It’s fine if you’re using it as an ornament or can pose it with something propping it up though.

4. The hands and feet are plain corrugated cardboard. I’m sure they have almost no resemblance to real mice hands and feet but this is a craft, not a science project.

5. The tail is a piece of pre-twisted rush twine. Use anything you have that looks tail-like.

Add a loop of string to hang it as an ornament or pose it as a decoration. It would look very cute on a cheese tray at a party!

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛