How to Make a Bumblebee Craft

Make a bumblebee to decorate your garden.

Bumblebees are favorite summer garden decorations. Make a bumblebee craft to add a touch of whimsy to your garden or home. Place it on a stake and poke it into a garden bed or potted patio plant. Suspend it from a string and hang it from a tree branch where it will sway in the warm summer breeze. Alternatively, use it as a decoration in a child's room. Create this garden charmer with basic craft supplies available at hobby and craft stores.

Things You'll Need

• 2.5-inch styrofoam ball
• Black acrylic paint
• Craft paintbrush
• 3-by-3.5-inch styrofoam egg
• Yellow acrylic paint
• Toothpick
• Hot glue gun
• Glue gun sticks
• 5 black chenille stems
• 2 wiggly eyes
• Red wood bead
• Acetate sheet
• White glue
• Wood dowel (optional)
• String (optional)

Instructions

1. Paint the styrofoam ball with the black acrylic paint and the styrofoam egg with the yellow acrylic paint and allow about two hours for both to dry. The ball will be the head and the egg will be the body of the bumblebee.

2. Paint the two ends of the yellow egg black, paint one black stripe around the center and two additional black stripes, equally spaced, around the egg. This is the bee's body.

3. Poke the toothpick into the end of the ball ball, leaving about half the toothpick exposed to poke into the egg. The toothpick will hold the head in place to glue.

4. Place a dot of hot glue on the end of the styrofoam ball with the glue gun, and push the toothpick through one black end of the striped egg. Hold the two pieces together until the glue dries.

5. Make three small holes, at the center and evenly spaced on either side of center, in one side of the egg for the legs.

6. Cut three chenille stems to 4 inches long. Fold each in half and insert one in each of the three holes. These are the legs of the bumblebee.

7. Cut one chenille stem into a 2-inch piece, fold in half and insert the two ends into the back end of the egg. This makes the bee's stinger.

8. Cut one chenille stem into a 4-inch piece, fold in half and insert the folded end into the top of the ball near the front. Bend the two ends of the chenille about 1/2-inch from the ends, outward. This makes the bee's antenna.

9. Glue wiggly eyes on the front of the ball, under the antenna, slightly spaced apart.

10. Glue the red wood bead onto the front of the ball, under the eyes and centered between them. This makes the bee's nose.

11. Cut acetate into a large oval shape. Cut this oval down the center. Make two notches in the upper part of the body, just behind the head, with the tip of the acetate. Remove the acetate, add a drop or two of white glue to each acetate tip and reinsert them into the notches. This makes the bee's wings.

12. Poke a wood dowel into the bottom of the bee's body, between the legs to make it a stake, or suspend the bee from a string around the neck to hang.

Tips & Warnings

• If hanging the bumblebee, tie a string around the neck or body to hang.

• Is using glue to secure the wings, use white glue not hot glue. Hot glue can melt the acetate.

• Use caution when handling a hot glue gun.

References

• Craft ideas: Summer Craft for Kids -- Styrofoam Bumble Bee