How to Needle Felt a Tiny Cardinal or Tiny Bird

I use tiny birds to decorate branches and little felt trees and some of my treetopper Waldorf angels hold little red cardinals. I created many little birds for my picturebook Seasons of Joy: Everyday is for Outdoor Play. 

In this blog post, I'll explain how to make a tiny red Northern Cardinal. You can also watch me make the cardinal in the YouTube video.

Learn to make the tiny cardinal like the one on cover of Seasons of Joy: Everyday is for Outdoor Play

Supplies 

• orange wool
• red wool
• grey-brown wool or alpaca
• black wool
• toothpick
• felting needle 38 or 40
• sharp scissors

Wrap orange wool tightly around toothpick.

Wrap red wool over orange, wrapping in same direction.

Carefully slide off toothpick, felt with needle, and bend wool to shape bird.

Wrap small piece of red wool around head, and felt in.

Cut head crest to shape like cardinal.

Wrap tiny piece of black wool around beak and felt in, add red wool to create tail.

Blend red and gray wool, fold a tiny piece of the blended roving and felt in as wings.

Watch me make the cardinal in this YouTube video:

Waldorf angel with cardinals

Another angel tree topper with cardinals.

The tiny cardinal in a Winter illustration from Seasons of Joy: Everyday is for Outdoor Play.