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How to Make a Toy Octopus Out of Yarn

Toy octopus dolls made from yarn are a no-sew, no-knit craft, and are ideal projects for children to develop their creativity and fine motor skills. Let your child to turn her octopus into a pirate by making it out of black yarn with red beads on the braids. She can give it a full head of hair by looping strands of yarn through the top of its head. Make the octopus with glow-in-the-dark yarn for a glowing friend, perfect for a child who wants a night time pal to keep her comforted.

Things You'll Need

24 feet of yarn
Scissors
Thin ribbon
Tennis ball or 3 cotton balls (optional)
2 googly eyes
Hot-glue gun
Beads with large holes
Curling ribbon
8 small rubber bands

Instructions

- 1
  Decide the color you want for your octopus, either a single color or a combination of colors, and cut 24 pieces of yarn that are 12 inches in length; if you use more than one color of yarn divide 24 feet by the number of colors to find the total number of feet you need for each color.
- 2
  Cut nine 5-inch-long pieces of ribbon and set aside.
- 3
  Hold the 24 strands of yarn in a single bundle with the ends of the yarn flush with one another. Place a tennis ball or 3 cotton balls in the middle of the bundle and fold the bundle in half over the objects.
- 4
  Tie a piece of ribbon around the yarn at the base of the octopus' head. Attach two googly eyes onto the face of the octopus with hot glue. Cut a 1-inch piece of ribbon and use hot glue to attach it below the octopus' eyes as a mouth. Use hot-glue to attach a bead to the center of the face for a nose and a bead to each side of its head for ears.
- 5
  Cut curling ribbon in 1 to 10 pieces in varying lengths and gather the ribbons in a single bundle. Thread the bundle of ribbon through the top of the octopus' head. Tie a knot in the ribbon to secure it, and run the side of the blade on your scissors down the lengths of the ribbon to curl it; you can also leave the ribbon straight, if desired, depending on your octopus' hairstyle.
- 6
  Separate the strands of yarn below the head into eight sets of three strands. Take one set of three strands of yarn and begin braiding the yarn. Thread beads made with large holes along the yarn as you braid it, spacing the beads every 1 to 2 inches.
- 7
  Wrap a rubber band around the base of the braid to hold it secure and tie a ribbon around the rubber band into a bow. Repeat this process with the other seven sets of yarn to form eight octopus legs.

Childrens Toys