So I got this idea to make a turtle totem, and I thought, “Why not? Let’s give it a shot.” I started by gathering some materials I had lying around. I grabbed some colorful beads, a bunch of different sized wooden pieces, some string, and some glue. Nothing fancy, just stuff from my craft box.
First off, I picked out a larger, flat wooden piece for the base. It was kind of oval-shaped, which I thought would work well for the bottom of the totem. Then, I started sorting through the wooden pieces to find ones that looked like they could stack up nicely to form the body of the turtles. I found a few smaller, round pieces and some that were more rectangular. It was like a little puzzle, trying to see which shapes fit together best.
- Glued the first layer onto the base.
- Stacked and glued more pieces on top.
- Used the beads to create eyes and patterns on the turtle’s body.
I started gluing the pieces together, starting with the base and working my way up. It was a bit tricky to get them to balance, but I managed. Once I had the basic shape of the first turtle, I moved on to making the shell. I took some of the smaller, flatter pieces and arranged them on top of the turtle’s body, gluing them in place.
For the next turtle, I picked slightly smaller pieces to make it a bit smaller than the first one. I repeated the process, stacking and gluing until I had another turtle shape. I kept doing this, making each turtle a little smaller than the last. It was actually kind of fun to see them all lined up, getting smaller and smaller.
Once all the wooden pieces were glued together, I started decorating. I used the colorful beads to add some details. I glued some beads onto the turtles’ backs to make them look a bit more interesting and added tiny beads for the eyes. It was a bit fiddly, but I think it made a big difference in the end.
Finishing Touches
After the glue dried, I took a step back to look at my work. I decided to add a string to the top so I could hang it up. I looped the string through a small hole I made at the top of the smallest turtle and tied it securely.
And there it was, my turtle totem! It wasn’t perfect, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s now hanging in my room, and it’s a nice reminder of that fun afternoon I spent crafting. Plus, it’s a cool conversation starter whenever someone sees it for the first time.
