Create a Coral ReefWhat To Do
Step 2: Making a Sea Fan
 
ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST FANS: Sea fans may look like plants, but they are actually coral, made of many tiny animals that work together. These animals use their little feathery tentacles to catch plankton as it drifts by. Sea fans are filter-feeders that grow perpendicular to a strong current. They're like plankton nets. They don't form part of the hard reef, but grow near it.

I'm going to show you how to make a red sea fan. Its scientific name is Swiftia kofoidi.

 Amy's sea fan and the real thing
 
 
1
Use scissors to cut a piece of needlepoint canvas into a tree-like shape (SEE PICTURE). Don't worry about getting the shape exactly like the model in the photo.		 Use scissors to cut a piece of needlepoint canvas into a tree-like shape. Don't worry about getting the shape exactly like the model in the photo.
2
Lay down newspaper, then paint the needlepoint canvas orange, and let it dry.		 Lay down newspaper, then paint the needlepoint canvas orange, and let it dry.
3
Weave a THICK orange pipe cleaner through the bottom "trunk" of the canvas (SEE PICTURE).		 Weave a THICK orange pipe cleaner through the bottom 'trunk' of the canvas.
4
Using the photo to the right as a model, weave THIN orange pipe cleaners into the needlepoint canvas.		 Using this photo as a model, weave THIN orange pipe cleaners into the needlepoint canvas.