Monday, January 9, 2012

Love Bugs!!

Here's a quick little project from a previous Valentine's Day - a Love Bug!! And it's practically free. You probably have this stuff on hand. I have used this project many times for large groups because it's inexpensive, allows for a lot of creativity, and if you pre-paint the sticks, doesn't need much drying time.
It's made from a paintstick. I get mine from Sherwin Williams. They are so nice to donate to the "cause." Some places charge :(
This guy was painted red and then given personality with peel and stick fun foam, wiggle eyes, pipe cleaners and some window screen wire that I saved when a big section of our screen porch had wind damage. Best bug wings around. Just get creative and decorate your paintstick. We also added a sticker that says "Love One Another." You could print a sticker with any Valentine greeting you want.
Love Bugs like friends so when we studied the "Bee- attitudes" we created bees using the same supplies. Just change up the colors a bit and you have a bee instead of a love bug!
Another cute Love Bug can be created from a General Foods/Maxwell House International Coffee can. This one goes back to when they were metal ( much better for crafting) and could be spray painted to prep them for the class. They are plastic now so wrapping them with contact or scrapbook paper works better than paint. This Ladybug or Love Bug has a round fun foam face and big wiggle eyes.
Her wings are cut from recycled milk jugs. Another good found material for wings!

This is another cute bug from an International Coffee can. A cool green grasshopper. He has bottle cap and button eyes and a mouth drawn with a Sharpie.

And his grasshopper legs are made from fun foam "Z's" - you never use all the "Z's" that come in bags of pre-cut letters. Or if you don't have extra "Z's" hanging around this is a great chance for the kiddos to get some cutting practice in!

2 comments:

  1. Just wanted to thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. That post generated an interesting debate.

    Your blog is very cute. You're doing a great job!

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  2. Ok, I really need to get away from your blog now or I'm going to sound like a stalker -- LOL

    I like the paint stick love bugs a lot -- my DH is a contractor so we always have a ton of these around the house and this would be a great way to use them -- just don't tell DH :-)

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