From fun pipe cleaner animals to cute DIY accessories and stationery, you'll be amazed what you can make from a humble pack of pipe cleaners!
Raid your kitchen cupboards for the basic supplies. If you don't have any, you can buy multipacks of pipe cleaners for crafting cheaply online. Pipe cleaner crafts are fun, quick to make and an eye-catching activity to keep children occupied too.
I've been testing out and saving this collection of ideas for pipe cleaners crafts for kids with my own children ever since they were toddlers. Our craft kit is never without a bag of pipe cleaners, lollipop sticks or feathers!
Googly eyes are, of course, the ultimate accessory to your pipe cleaner creations, especially if you want to make them into pipe cleaner animals – and we've got lots of ideas for making your own menagerie of these below.
If you're looking for craft ideas for kids, this article is for you. Read on to find a big batch of our favourite ideas for what to make with pipe cleaners, and yes I've included a whole section on Christmas pipe cleaner crafts at the end as the fun ramps up a whole other notch once we get to the holiday season!
None of these ideas will take you long to make, so curl up, take a look and discover your new favourite rainy day craft project.
You might also like our guides to the best crafts for toddlers, easy halloween crafts for kids and our pick of the best art sets for kids.
Image © YoImages
What can you make with pipe cleaners?
Pipe cleaners are the ultimate kids craft supply as you can easily twist them, bend them, curve them and manipulate them into pretty much any shape you fancy. The most common things you can make with them are accessories (think hair bands and bracelets), animals and Christmas ornaments.
We've also included some ideas for grown-ups and teenagers too, from pen pots to flowers, as why should adults miss out on all the fun? But pretty much all of the ideas in this article would suit all ages, from toddlers to grandparents!
In this article you'll find...
- Pipe cleaner crafts for adults – from fancy dress outfits to DIY decor
- Pipe cleaner crafts for kids – quick projects for mini makers
- Pipe cleaner animals – craft your own zoo!
- Christmas pipe cleaner crafts – deck the halls for the holiday season
Where can you buy pipe cleaners for crafts?
Here are a few places to stock up on pipe cleaners for crafting:
- Baker Ross – our go-to kids craft supplies store have a huge range in all colours and types, from metallic to pastel shades, and some great starter kits too (we've included a few below)
- Etsy – since they expanded their store to include craft supplies as well as ready-made items, Etsy has grown a huge range of pipe cleaner packs to buy cheaply in a huge range of colours
- Amazon – are fully stocked with pipe cleaners in every shade under the sun.
Pipe cleaner crafts for adults and teens
Pipe cleaner bunnies
We're going to start strong with one of the most stylish pipe cleaner crafts we've ever seen. All hail Handmade Charlotte for this beautiful way to twist pipe cleaners into stylish Easter decorations. We think they'd look lovely strung up as a garland.
How to make pipe cleaner bunnies
Wrap gifts with pipe cleaner details
Oh Happy Day have found a way to make pipe cleaners look like the biggest trend of the year! Combine them with Kraft paper for a simple gift wrap idea with a texture boost. How to wrap gifts with pipe cleaners.
DIY pipe cleaner flower pots
This is a sweet idea from Nora Nalle over at The Spruce Crafts. It's a lovely pipe cleaner craft idea to give to a friend or family member who needs cheering up. Or you could send your love if you're short of funds but want to send flowers – nothing beats the homemade variety after all!
Pipe cleaner dream catchers
Ensure sweet dreams every night with this cute idea for a DIY pipe cleaner craft project from Hobbycraft.
DIY pipe cleaner cacti
This sweet and stylish take on pipe cleaner crafts from Handmade Charlotte shows you how to twist pipe cleaners into one of the most clever 3D projects in this article.
Play pipe cleaner noughts and crosses
Stuck at home on a rainy day but trying to have less screen time? This great little DIY for how to make your own Tic Tac Toe game out of pipe cleaners from Makes and Takes will only take a few minutes to craft but offer hours of fun to play with – it's the pipe cleaner crafts activity you need in your life.
Grow your own pipe cleaner roses
This sweet YouTube tutorial from Miss Tricks Mix Crafts & DIY shows you how to make a single stem Pipe Cleaner Rose. But you could use the basic technique to make anything from a pipe cleaner rose bouquet to a garland or bunch of pipe cleaner blooms!
Get romantic with heart pencil toppers
This sweet DIY is a lovely make for Valentine's Day or as wedding favours. Or make them just to liven up your desk if it's feeling a little lacklustre. Twist pipe cleaners into cute hearts and top pencils with them with this tutorial from The Best Ideas for Kids. We've incluuded this in the adults and teens section of this round-up as we don't see why kids should have all the fun!
Fun Fancy Dress idea – craft a pipe cleaner crown
Make your own 10 minute pipe cleaner crown with this fun party pipe cleaner craft project from Jennifer Perkins.
Pipe cleaner pencil holders
Weave them into desk tidies with this Pipe Cleaner Pencil Holder Tutorial from Factory Direct Craft's blog. Give your desk a quick pop of texture with this 5-minute make.
Pipe cleaner beaded rainbow
There's no way this colour-popping pipe cleaner rainbow DIY from Happy Hooligans can be just for kids. You might also like our round up of the best rainbow craft ideas if this one captures your imagination! Add beads for a glorious boho effect and if you do want to make this with the kids, they'll also get to practise their fine motor skills by threading on the beads.
Easy pipe cleaner bracelets
This is a great little DIY to while away an hour or two if you're stuck inside on a rainy day. Twist pipe cleaners into bracelets – they make lovely gifts for children in the family and their friends. How to make pipe cleaner bracelets with Thrifty Fun.
Pipe cleaner crafts for kids
Pipe cleaner lollipops
Make and Takes are one of our favourite places to find kids craft ideas. This sweet pipe cleaner lollipop DIY won't take long to craft but will delight your mini makers.
Pipe cleaner bubble wands
Why have we never thought of this?! Thankfully My Home Based Life has come to our rescue and brought us the joy of DIY pipe cleaner bubble wands. We are never going back to buying plastic bubble wands ever again! Add Hama beads to reinforce the stems!
Add beads to make pipe cleaner dolls
This cuuuute DIY from Mini Mad Things talks you through how to make your very own dolls by adding a bit of yarn and some beads to your pipe cleaners. We need to make a whole family of these tiny dolls, pronto!
Pipe cleaner bunny ears
There are really no words for how much we love this idea for DIY pipe cleaner bunny ears from Inspiration Made Simple. They've used super-sized chenille stems to make these super-sized bunny ears but you could easily adapt the technique to twist smaller pipe cleaners into Easter-ready headgear.
Pipe cleaner butterfly rings
One Little Project rarely fails us when we're on the hunt for kids craft inspo, and they've delivered the goods yet again with this fun DIY for how to make pipe cleaner butterflies. They brilliantly double up as wearable crafts too – how pretty are these rings!
How to make pipe cleaner butterfly rings
Pipe cleaner bicycles
We haven't come across many vehicles made with pipe cleaners, which just makes this clever pipe cleaner bike DIY from My Kid Craft all the cooler.
Pipe cleaner super heroes
Cuuuuuute idea from our kids craft heroes over at Baker Ross – turn pipe cleaners into mini superstars and add your own imaginary super powers with these handy craft kits.
- Buy the kits from Baker Ross
Pipe cleaner wands
One for all you magic lovers and Harry Potter fans – Art Bar have a lovely DIY for how to make your own pipe cleaner wands out of basic supplies.
Build 3D rainbows
We've included this second pipe cleaner rainbow tutorial from Still Playing School as we like the 3D effect – it would make a great decoration for nurseries and play rooms.
Pipe cleaner glasses
Another clever idea from Make and Takes, turn pipe cleaners into DIY spectacles! They've made this project as a bat-themed Halloween craft idea, but you could easily drop the wings and make them for DIY photo booth party props.
Pipe cleaner animals
Pipe cleaner spiders
One of our ultimate go-to pipe cleaner crafts has to be spiders. Not just a fun Halloween craft for kids, wind your cleaners into DIY creepie crawlies and have fun watching who you can make jump in the house when you leave them lying around!
Blissful Domestication shows you how to make pipe cleaner spiders
Pipe cleaner crocodiles
Snap to it! Wrap pipe cleaners around lollipop sticks to make these fun crocs. Tutorial from Easy, Peasy and Fun.
Pipe cleaner turtles
Lo and behold people! We have found a whole blog filled with pipe cleaner animals projects and it's called.... Pipe cleaner animals! Here's one of our favourite DIYs they have to share – how to make pipe cleaner turtles.
Pipe cleaner dinosaurs
Twist and mould your very own DIY Brachiosaurus with this nifty YouTube video from Eager Crafts.
Pipe cleaner fishing game
Oh yes! This is the pipe cleaner make for kids that doubles up as a creative activity. Make the fish, complete with goggly eyes, then play with them - use a straw and magnets to turn your pipe cleaner fish into a fun kids game. We are so happy we discovered this DIY from Artsy Craftsy Mum – her YouTube channel is well worth subscribing to for more brilliant ideas like this.
Watch the video from Artsy Craftsy Mum
Pipe cleaner snails
Hooray for another excuse to use our googly eyes! Watch the video from Guide Central English on YouTube to discover how to make pipe cleaner snails.
Pipe cleaner monkeys
Learn how to make pipe cleaner monkeys with one of our favourite sources of kids crafts inspiration, Frugal Fun for Boys.
Pipe cleaner crabs
Another fun video DIY, transform your humble pipe cleaners into this super-cute crab with Miss Tricks Mix Crafts and DIY channel – how to make a pipe cleaner crab.
Christmas pipe cleaner crafts
How to make pipe cleaner snowflakes
Make white or metallic snowflakes out of pipe cleaners to create a flurry of DIY Christmas decorations with this stylish tutorial from The Best Ideas for Kids.
Twist a pipe cleaner Rudolph
Kid Friendly Things to Do, we salute you for this absolutely awesome pipe cleaner reindeer DIY!
Make your own pipe cleaner Christmas cards
Write festive greetings, from JOY to NOEL, with this quick-make Christmas card idea using pipe cleaners from Crafty Morning – Simply Pipe Cleaner Christmas Card DIY.
Turn spirals into pipe cleaner Christmas trees
There is literally nothing anyone can do to stop us from whipping up a batch of these sparkly fun twisty pipe cleaner Christmas trees from Play Trains! as table toppers for our festive table this year. We're thinking of adding place names for a cute twist on table settings.
How to make pipe cleaner Christmas trees
DIY pipe cleaner Christmas wreath
Shhh, can you hear the faint jingle of bells? We are planning a whole batch of these cute pipe cleaner wreath ornaments with the tutorial from One Little Project.
Pipe cleaner 3D reindeer
Make sure Santa has the whole herd of reindeer to pull his sleigh with these fun reindeer pipe cleaner craft kits from Baker Ross.
Pipe cleaner snowman
This frosty pipe cleaner DIY looks great with metallic pipe cleaners for the snowman's scarf. Twist them into a snowman that doubles up as a pencil topper with this easy DIY from Our Kid Things.
Pipe cleaner garland
Deck the halls with a paperchain-inspired interlocking line of pipe cleaners in festive shades! We've found this nifty tutorial for how to make one over at Powerful Mothering.
Make the most of rainy days with this round-up of easy pipe cleaner crafts
You'll be looking at that pack of pipe cleaners in a new light now you've seen all the amazing things you can make with them! They're great for making fancy dress props like bunny ears and crowns, can double up as bubble wands, and can be fashioned into all manner of animals, too.
They also come into their own at Christmas for quick decor, especially if you have some metallic pipe cleaners to add some festive sparkle.
Discover more easy crafts for kids with Gathered
Having plenty of ways to entertain the kids and spark their creativity is simple when you have Gathered at your side! Everyone remembers the fun they had modelling with paper mache at school and now you can relive the joy with 11 creative paper mache ideas.
There are projects for kids and adults in our selection, so go on and see the amazing objects you can fashion from paper, glue and balloons!
