This is a very easy swan to felt. You start with a pipe cleaner in the basic shape and start to build the swan by wrapping wool roving around the shape that you have formed.
I got the instructions to make this swan from Living Crafts Magazine Spring 2011. This was the first issue I got of this magazine and I made almost every project that they listed. I highly recommend this magazine for fun, natural, easy, and fast crafts that your family will appreciate.
For this one I started at the beak and worked down from there. Using red roving on the beak and white for the body. Once I had buit up the body enough I layed the feathers on either side and then added wool over top of the tips of the feathers and then pinned them down with the wool. For the water I took two colors of wool (blue and green) and felted it together layering the colors to imitate algea on a pond.
I have made several of these and used them for gifts for my daughter's friends. What little girl does not like a swan. I mean really. Quick and easy you can be done in under an hour with roving you may already have on hand. The feathers you can get at any craft store.
