Hanging Ladybugs

Ahhh, summer breezes, playing outside, soaking up the sunshine and… ladybugs! These fun ladybugs are full of color and a great way to dress up a birthday party, a child’s bedroom, or even a back porch. Watch them twirl in the breeze on a warm summer day.

Materials

• construction paper, various colors
• pencil
• something round for tracing (jar, can, etc)
• scissors
• black craft paint
• small round spouncer
• paintbrush
• 8 medium wiggle eyes for each ladybug
• string
• white craft glue
• hot glue gun (optional but recommended)

Directions

1. You will need two construction paper circles for each ladybug. Cut construction paper into 4.5″ squares. Stack two squares on top of each other and trace around something round to create your circle. I used a small can of paint.
2. Holding the stacked paper together, cut the circles out of the paper.
3. Still holding the two circles together, cut a slit from one edge of the circle up into the middle of the circle.
4. Use as many colors as you like. I used pink, red, orange, yellow, blue, green and purple.
5. Place one of the circle onto a piece of scrap paper. Paint a section for the ladybug’s head, overlapping the paint brush onto the scrap paper. This will give you a guide to use for all the remaining circles.
6. For each pair of circles, you will paint a head at the opposite end of each one. So for the first one, line up the slit you cut so that it points directly downward and paint the head at the top, the end of the slit is the bottom. For the other circle, turn it the opposite direction so that the slit is at the top and paint the head there. This will ensure that your “heads” line up together.
7. Use the small spouncer dipped in black paint to add the ladybug’s spots. Set each one out to dry and continue painting until all are done. Let them dry before turning the over and repeating this process on the other side.
8. Take the two circles and line up the slits. Insert them into each other. The heads should line up as shown. Now lay them out flat and glue wiggle yes onto head, one on each side. Don’t put the eyes too close together. Farther apart is better. You will need eyes on every section. There are 4 sections.
9. Run a thin line of hot glue where the slits intersect to connect them together. Cut a piece of string and glue it in with the slits.

Now you are ready to hang your twirling ladybugs!