Airplane

• The spinning rudder on front of most of airplanes makes them an obvious model for a whirligig. Buy some light, yet sturdy wood and design an airplane. This can be as simple as a piece of wood for the body with another piece of wood over top as a wing. Paint your airplanes a nice color and add airplane designs and numbers on the sides. Name your plane something fun and paint it on the side. Create a wide range of planes, including WWI barnstormers and WWII bombers. Include modern airplanes as well. Soon, you'll have a fleet of airplanes in your backyard, spinning away.
  
  

Pop Bottle

• Simple homemade whirligigs can be created out of 2-liter pop bottles. Cut strips out of the pop bottle and bend them forward to create a "flower" look. Tape a propeller into the neck of the bottle, giving it enough room to spin. Stick your pop bottle into the ground held by a stick, and you're done. While these pop bottle whirligigs are cheap to make, they can create an eccentric and fun look for your backyard. You can paint your pop bottles multiple colors. Paint different designs on the bottles. Paint your family's name on the bottles, one letter per bottle, and put them along the road. Paint them as flowers or weeds.
  
  

Animals

• Whirligigs can feature any of your favorite animals. Design an animal out of a piece of wood from the side. Paint them the corresponding color of the animal and design small faces and feet for each animal. Now, place a rotating rudder on each side. These should be going in opposite directions. When the wind blows, it will create the illusion of a running animal. These whirligigs can take a little more time to create, but they help create a nice look to your yard. Create many different animals for a zoo theme. Bears, lions, dogs, cats and foxes make excellent whirligigs. You may wish to focus on one animal. This could create the look of a group of migrating animals.