When I saw this amazing cactus-shaped chair on Pinterest the other day, I was instantly inspired. The way they shaped wire to look like the outline of a cactus is genius! I had a ton of green pipe cleaners left over from another craft, so I gathered them up and got to work on these fun cactus sculptures.

The awesome thing about this project is that you can totally customize the technique to make a cacti in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors! This is such a fun project to do with kids – they’ll love experimenting with the 3D shapes in a medium that is so forgiving. Put a pompom on top and you’ve got a colorful collection of cactus (try saying that 5 times fast!) to decorate your table for Cinco de Mayo.

• Green pipe cleaners
• Scissors
• Pompoms
• Yarn
• Hot glue (optional)

Step 1
Shape a pipe cleaner into a circle, twisting the ends together to secure.

Step 2
Attach another pipe cleaner onto the circle by twisting its end around the circle and then back on itself.

Step 3
Link the other end of that pipe cleaner to the opposite side of the circle, forming an arch.

Step 4
Add another pipe cleaner in the same way.

Step 5
And add another pipe cleaner too – your sculpture should now look like a simple, domed cactus. You can adapt these steps to make cacti in different shapes – make the base circle smaller or larger, make the cacti taller by using two pipe cleaners connected at the ends for the arches, make a zig-zag base instead of a circle, add arms onto the sides … get creative! You can use dots of hot glue to secure more complex cacti if needed.

Step 6
Time to make the pompom flowers! Use yarn to make a DIY pompom (this technique, but mini!) and leave the tails long to tie onto the cactus.

Step 7
Tie the tails of the pompom around the top of the pipe cleaner cactus and then trim the excess. Or, use a store-bought pompom and glue it in place.

Happy crafting!