Christmas Pony Bead Swaps
Easy Christmas Pony Bead Swaps are simple holiday crafts kids can make with pipe cleaners, pony beads, and safety pins. These little Christmas tree and wreath pins are fun to trade, wear, or give as handmade gifts for Grandma, teachers, friends, and classmates.
Supplies
- Safety pins
- Green pipe cleaners
- Translucent green pony beads
- Red pony beads
- Red star pony beads
- Red heart shaped pony beads
- Scissors
Instructions
Instructions for Making a Christmas Tree
- Cut one green pipe cleaner in half.
- Fold one half of the pipe cleaner in half and slide the folded center through the coil of a safety pin.
- Push both ends of the pipe cleaner through a red star pony bead and slide it up near the pin.
- Separate the two pipe cleaner ends.
- Slide one translucent green pony bead onto each end and push them up to the star.
- On each side, add one red pony bead, one green pony bead, one red pony bead, and three more green pony beads.
- Bend the beaded pipe cleaner into a triangle shape to look like a Christmas tree.
- Twist the ends together at the bottom to make the base of the tree. Trim any extra pipe cleaner if needed.
Instructions for Making a Wreath
- Cut one green pipe cleaner in half.
- Slide the pipe cleaner through the coil of a safety pin until the pin is in the middle.
- On one side, slide on one red pony bead followed by one red heart shaped pony bead.
- On the other side, slide on one red heart shaped pony bead.
- Point the heart beads outward from the middle to make a bow shape.
- On each side, slide on two green pony beads, one red pony bead, two more green pony beads, another red pony bead, and one final green pony bead.
- Bend the pipe cleaner into a round wreath shape.
- Twist the ends together to secure the wreath. Trim any extra pipe cleaner if needed.
Craft Tips
These Christmas pony bead swaps are a great way to use up extra beads from other easy crafts for kids. Children can make several pins in one sitting and create different color patterns for holiday gifts, classroom activities, or scout swaps.
Younger children may need help twisting the pipe cleaner ends and attaching the safety pin.
Patterns, Templates and Printables
No printable template is needed for this Christmas pony bead craft. Follow the bead order in the instructions above to make the Christmas tree and wreath shapes.
Teacher Friendly Educational Extension
Turn this Christmas bead craft into a simple pattern activity. Ask kids to identify the bead pattern they used, such as green, green, red, green, green, red. They can count how many beads are on each side, compare the tree and wreath shapes, or design a new holiday swap using repeating patterns.
For a classroom display, pin the finished Christmas tree and wreath swaps to a piece of green construction paper labeled “Handmade Holiday Gifts.”
Supplies
Safety PinsGreen Pipe Cleaners
Translucent Green Pony Beads
Red Pony Beads
Red Star Pony Beads
Red Heart Shaped Pony Beads
Scissors
Instructions
Instructions for Making Christmas Tree:
Cut pipe cleaners in half. Fold one half of a pipe cleaner in half and slide through the coil of a pin to the middle. Push both ends of the pipe cleaner through a star pony bead. Separate the ends and slide a green translucent bead onto each end. Push up to the star. Then slide on a red, a green, another red, and three more greens on each end. Bend into a triangle shape. Twist ends together to make the base of the tree.
Instructions for Making a Wreath:
Cut pipe cleaners in half. Slide half of a pipe cleaner through the coil of a pin to the middle. On one side, slide on a red pony bead followed by a red heart bead. On the other side, slide on a red heart pony bead. Point the heart beads out from the middle to make a bow. On each side, slide on two green pony beads, a red pony bead, another two green pony bead, another red, and 1 more green. Bend into a wreath shape. Twist ends together.
This craft reprinted courtesy of Terri of MakingFriends.com.
Contributor
Terri is the creator of makingfriends.com, freekidscrafts.com, scoutswaps.com and badginabag.com. Her work is republished all over the internet and is considered the queen of kids crafts.
