As a beekeeper's wife I have a soft spot for the little buzzing creatures that do so much for our gardens.
As promised yesterday here is a fun easy craft for kids and grownups alike.
Supplies:
Plastic Eggs in yellow (other colors will work but I used yellow in case any showed through the yarn)
Yarn in yellow and black
Waxed paper (wings)
Black chenille sticks (pipe cleaners for antenna)
Hot glue gun (optional but helpful)
Glue
Small black buttons
Step 1
Determine how long you want your piece of fishing line for hanging your bee to be. Cut. Then tie a good sized knot in one end. Place the knotted end between the two halves of your plastic egg. Snap shut, this will be your hanging line.
Step 2
This is the part I did with the glue gun, you can use regular glue but I wanted this part to dry fast so I knew the kids wouldn't pull it when they were wrapping yarn.
Make a small swirl of yarn with your fingers leaving a long tale of yarn for wrapping, place hot glue on the rounded end (not the more pointed end) of your egg. Place your little swirl of yarn on the glue. This will be the face end of your bee.
Step 3
Place glue around your egg and the start wrapping your tail of yarn around your egg.
Cut your black yarn when you get the desired amount of black applied. Make sure your cut ends are on the bottom of your bee.
Add more glue and start yellow where the black left off on the bottom of your bee.
Keep alternating until you get to the end of your bee and it is completely covered with yarn.
Step 4
Cut out 4 wings from waxed paper. Put a small dot of glue at the bottom of two of the wings and place another wing on top. You now have two double wings. Make a small fold at the bottom of the wings and use this to slip between two rows of yarn. Put a small dot of glue and then move the yarn back.
Step 5
Cut your pipe cleaners the length you want and shape. Make a tiny bend in the end and slip between your yarn where you want the antenna to be. I used a dot of hot glue to hold but you could use regular glue as long as you make sure they stay in place until dried. Bring the yarn back together.
Step 6
Place your buttons on the face for eyes using glue. Add a ribbon if you like for a girl bee
Step 7
Hang your new little bees!
My kids had a great time making these with their friends...I'm sure yours will too!
And if you have any extra yarn you could always make some sheep!
