Tutorial: Miniature Spun Cotton Fruit Craft Project

Make your own tiny spun cotton fruit! I'm sharing techniques for making a pineapple, pears, strawberries, plums, oranges, and cherries in this fun fruit craft project.

I've been wanting do a fruit craft project for awhile using spun cotton shapes as a base for painting and embellishing. I was thinking it would be fun to cluster them all together into a hair comb - kind of like a tacky Carmen Miranda meets retro tiki party summer thing. Most of these you could easily scale up, and maybe add a little clear glass glitter to make pretty Christmas ornaments, too.

Supplies:

Styrofoam block
Bamboo skewers
Small, flat paintbrush
Tiny, pointed paintbrush
Green crepe paper or tissue paper
Scissors
White glue
24 gauge floral wire (green and brown)

Pineapple: 30mm Spun Cotton Egg, yellow, dark brown paint Pears: Spun Cotton Pears, medium green, mocha brown, yellow paint Cherries: 10mm Spun Cotton Balls, Red paint Plums: 20mm Spun Cotton Balls, Medium purple, blush pink paint Oranges: 20mm Spun Cotton Balls, Orange paint Strawberries: 20mm Spun Cotton Eggs, Red, yellow paint

Tip: Use bamboo skewers and a styrofoam block as a drying rack when painting spun cotton shapes.

Spun Cotton Pineapple:

Step 1: Stick the wide end of the spun cotton egg onto the skewer, and paint the whole thing yellow. Let dry. Step 2: Using your tiny pointed brush, draw diagonal lines across the front of the pineapple, and then draw lines going the other way to make a diamond pattern. Do the same thing on the back of the pineapple. The lines don't need to meet at the sides. Then, place little dots in the centers of the diamonds. Let dry. Step 3: While the pineapple dries, cut out a piece of green crepe or tissue paper roughly 2 x 5 inches. Fold in half twice, in the same direction. Cut an irregular pattern of points along one side.

Step 4: Unfold the cut paper. When unfolded, it will look sort of like grass. Then, start at one end, and roll it up. Step 5: Use your fingers to pull down the individual points, bending them to form the leaves of the pineapple. Squeeze the base portion so that it does not come unraveled, and snip off the end, about 1/4 inch below the first leaves.

Step 6: Use one of the bamboo skewers to pierce a hole in the top of the pineapple, large enough fit the paper top. Dip the base of the paper top in some white glue, and insert it into the top of the pineapple.

Spun Cotton Strawberries:

Step 1: Paint the spun cotton eggs red, and let dry. Step 2: Use your littlest brush to paint tiny lines in yellow all over the strawberries. Step 3: Let dry.

Step 4: Cut a short length of green floral wire, and bend the end into a flattened hook shape. Dip the hook into white glue, and insert it into the wide end of the strawberry. Cut out a rough circle of green paper, about 3/4 inch in diameter. Cut points all around it, like a starburst shape. Step 5: Use the end of the floral wire to poke a hole in the center of the paper, and slide it onto the wire. Put a dab of glue around the top of the strawberry, and press the paper into place.

Spun Cotton Pears:

Step 1: Paint the pears a medium yellowish green. Step 2: While the green paint is still wet, add a strip of mocha brown down one side of the pear. Use your small brush to blend it in a little. Step 3: While the brown/green paint is still wet, add a small stripe of yellow paint, and blend it in gently to create a highlight. Let the pears dry. Step 4: Once dry, you can add a "stem" of twisted brown floral wire to the hole at the top.

Spun Cotton Oranges:

Step 1: Paint the spun cotton ball orange, and let dry. Step 2: Cut a short length of green floral wire, bend it in half, dip the ends in glue, and insert it into the orange. Cut out a tiny green leaf, dip the end in glue, and use the point of a skewer to press it into the center of the orange.

Spun Cotton Plums:

Step 1: Paint the spun cotton ball purple. Step 2: While the purple paint is still wet, add a spot of pink paint to one side. Gently blend the pink in to create a slight color variation. Step 3: Once dry, you can add a small stem made of brown floral wire.

Spun Cotton Cherries:

Step 1: Paint the spun cotton balls red. While they are drying, cut a length of green floral wire, roughly 3 inches long. Bend it in half, making a "V" shape. Bend the very ends into small flat hooks. Step 2: When the cherries are dry, dip the hooked ends of the wire in glue, and insert them into the tops of the cherries. And there are all the pretty fruits!

Now you can use these miniatures for all sorts of fun fruit craft projects. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

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