I cannot tell you how in LOVE I am with DIY yarn monsters. I had heard of them before, but never really thought about making them until we got supplies and instructions in this month’s Kiwi Crate subscription box.

We had so much fun making them, we went out and got more yarn, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes to make a LOT more! I hadn’t even realized at the time how many variations of a yarn monster there could be. I have to admit, I may have made more than my daughter did – I’m not telling which ones are mine and which ones are hers though!

How to Make DIY Yarn Monsters

Supplies:

• Yarn – multi-color or super fuzzy like this one or this one are really fun.
• Pipe cleaners
• Self-adhesive googly eyes – make sure they are the self-adhesive/sticker kind, otherwise you’ll need to whip out the glue and no one has time for that mess!
• Wooden Letter “U” – not completely necessary, you could also use your hands to wrap the yarn around.
• Scissors

Instructions:

Start by taking either your letter “U”, or your hand, and wrapping the yarn around it at least 100 times, if not more like 150-200. Now I know that sounds like a lot… But trust me, if you don’t have enough loops your yarn monster will end up looking limp and sad. Another thing to note, this is the “U” that came with our Kiwi Crate. We also bought another one that’s more decorative, but we had to slide the yarn down off the back on that one.

Next you’ll want to take your pipe cleaner and wrap it around the middle one time, then twist together as tightly as you can, otherwise the yarn will be loose and come out easily.

You could either do this while the yarn is still on the frame, which is slightly easier, or after you’ve taken it off (just remember if you have a decorative “U” you won’t be able to slide the yarn off with the pipe cleaner on it).

Then cut all the loops so that there are no longer loops.

UNLESS you want to make a monster that looks like this, then you don’t cut the loops:

Finally, stick the googly eyes onto the yarn wherever you think gives it the most personality.

In some cases, that might be directly on the pipe cleaners. (p.s. You can see we didn’t quite make it to 100 loops with this guy, his hair’s a little short.)

If you want to make a long moppy monster, you just wrap the yarn around the frame or your hand like normal. Then slide the yarn off before adding the pipe cleaner. Only cut one side of the loops, then put the pipe cleaner around the other side. That will create a longer moppier monster like this:

And this:

My kids like to play hide-and-seek with the finished monsters. They would also make cute little friend gifts in lieu of a friendship bracelet. ‘Cause seriously, who wouldn’t want one of these?

I hope you enjoy making your little yarn monsters. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

Hey, did you know we have a printables library now? It has checklists, coloring books and pages, wall art, and more (with more always being added). Just click on the pretty pic below to sign up for access. And thanks for being so awesome!