To make the Weather Bird wind vane, download the bird and arrowhead pattern. Print it out on heavy paper, trim and pin it to the foam tray, and then cut out the foam with a hobby knife. (You can also use the downloaded SVG file to laser cut the paper bird pattern.)
Or, use the paper pattern as a guide with a hot wire foam cutter — it’s really fun and you’ll get a perfect result! See Make: Volume 16 (or follow the link) for complete plans to make a 5-Minute Foam Factory. Lots of other foam cutting fun, too!
Of course, you don’t have to make a fancy bird design, a simple arrowhead and fin shape will do.
Insert the foam bird cut-out in one end of the large straw. Carefully stick the straight pin through the top of the bird’s foot, down through foam inside the straw, and out the bottom. Be sure to stick the pin perpendicular to the straw. The pin is the vertical axle the bird spins on.
Insert the arrowhead on the other end so that it is horizontal and flat. Put the pin inside the small mini straw and check to see that the Weather Bird spins freely. Blow on it to see that it points into the wind reliably. Trim the big straw if needed to balance.
Drill a small hole in the center of a 2″-long rod or dowel to accept the tiny straw. Trim the mini straw to be slightly longer than the pin. Glue or screw the dowel to the center of a 3″ circle of clear acrylic. I painted the straw and dowel black to match.
Finally, print out the panel with the cloud wheels (in the previous download). Laminate it in clear plastic to be weatherproof if you like.