Super Fun Craft Stick Love Bugs!
Ok, I think I might be a little obsessed with googly eyes. I can hardly think of another craft material that is able to turn even the most mundane item into something cute and full of personality. Case in point, check out these super fun and adorable love bug craft stick crafts for kids. They were a blast to make and really quite easy. Read on to see how to make them!
Love Bug Craft Stick Crafts for Kids
Affiliate links included for your convenience. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase I will receive a small amount of compensation from Amazon. For more on this policy click here.
Material Needed:
- Large or jumbo size craft sticks
- Acrylic or tempura paint (we used acrylic paint) in Valentine’s Day colors. I picked out two shades of purple and two shades of pink.
- Foam sheets in Valentine’s Day colors. Again, we went with a pink and purple theme.
- Googly eyes. Normal googly eyes would be fine. I decided to add an element of fun with color googly eyes.
- Pink and purple (or whatever color you want) mini pom poms
- White or sparkly white pipe cleaner
- Craft glue
- Black sharpie or marker
- Mini craft jewels with adhesive (ie: bling)
- Hot glue gun and glue (optional)
or 
paint (we used acrylic paint) in Valentine’s Day colors. I picked out two shades of purple and two shades of pink.
in Valentine’s Day colors. Again, we went with a pink and purple theme.
. Normal googly eyes would be fine. I decided to add an element of fun with 
googly eyes.
with adhesive (ie: bling)
and glue (optional)
How to Make the Love Bugs
- Paint the craft sticks! We painted six craft sticks and ended up making four Love Bugs. This is a very quick step you could do in 10 minutes after dinner on a week night.
- Let the paint dry.
- Assemble and decorate the love bugs. To prep for this I did the following:
- Cut two, 1-2″ pieces of pipe cleaner per love bug for the antennae.
- Put the googly eyes and pom poms in separate bowls or containers.
- Cut out a 3-5″ diameter heart from the craft foam. If your kid is old enough to have good scissor skills, they may be able to do this step themselves.
- Of course I had my own ideas about how the Love Bugs would turn out, but it was easy to give Sweet Pea maximum creative license.
- She picked out the color of the googly eyes and the color of the nose.
- Once she had picked them out, we stuck them on with craft glue.
- Then I used the black marker to draw on the mouth.
- Once the basic face was on the Love Bugs, Sweet Pea was able to choose all kinds of bling to decorate them with. The ‘bling,’ which I picked up for next to nothing at a Scrapbook Expo, was essentially paper crafting adhesive jewels. You can use craft glue to reinforce the adhesive as well.
- For the Love Bug wings, turn the heart upside down and glue it to the back of the craft stick with the craft glue.
- For the Love Bug antennae, use a hot glue gun to glue a pom pom to the end of the pipe cleaner piece. Then, use either craft glue or the glue gun to stick the antennae to the back/top of the Love Bug. Note: it is not advisable to let young children use the glue gun.
- Tip: for a nice touch you can make sure the craft stick paint color and the color of the antennae pom pom are the same. You can also mix and match the pinks and purples used for the wings to add a little variety.
Aren’t these Love Bugs so cute?
Love Bug craft stick crafts can be used as puppets, put in a Quiet Bag, or you can stick a magnet strip on the back for a super cute decoration.
Thanks for checking out this craft and I hope you have fun crafting with your kids too!
Sara
Do you like this craft and want more ideas? Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest (click blue link) for all the best craft and activity ideas on the internet!
Check out these great craft stick craft ideas too!
Christmas Craft Stick Ornaments
[birdsend form=4680]
LOL I am dying over the “tempura” paint! It’s “tempera”
ha! Well, maybe I was hungry. Thanks for pointing that out.. I will have to issue a correction. 🙂