I had SO much fun making these adorable little critters! They are so darn CUTE! They are very simple to create and require only a few materials. I had intended for the kids to help make them however we had some scheduling issues so it was just me! Maybe we will have some time on Valentine's Day to create some more. They are currently hanging out in the classroom keeping watch over Addie while she is in class.😉
Here are the materials needed:
Yarn of your choosing
a small piece of cardboard about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide ( I cut mine from a Lucky Charms box)
Scissors and glue
googly eyes
pipe cleaners
items to decorate your little monster such as pom poms, cut out shapes, and sequins
small cup-I used a plastic one that was a tad to big but a Dixie cup would be the perfect size
To start you are going to take your piece of cardboard and your yarn and start wrapping the yarn around the cardboard. You want to do this at least 200 times so that your critter is full enough. Make sure to wrap the yarn around the longest length of the cardboard so the strings are long enough to cover the cup.
Once you've wrapped your yarn enough times around the cardboard you can cut the yarn from the spool. Then cut another smaller piece and tie it around the yarn to hold all of the yarn together (as pictured below).
Flip over your cardboard with the yarn attached and cut through the middle of the yarn. You will want to make sure this is the opposite side of where you just tied the yarn together. Now you should have a big tassel.
Flip over your cup and glue the tassel to the bottom (which will now technically be the top since your cup is upside down). I glued the tassel with the knot facing the cup so that it wasn't visible. Once this is done you can add pipe cleaners for antennae and any decorations you'd like! Now you have your own Valentine Love Bug! Piece of cake!
I created three different bugs with two different types of yarn. You can create multicolor bugs with solid colored yarn by adding your colors onto your cardboard spool before cutting it. This will create a similar effect to the multi color yarn I chose. The pink and red yarn was a different type and while it looks cool, it wasn't ideal. It shreds when its cut so it kind of made a mess! I still like how it turned out though. The smaller bug is made the same way but glue to a very tiny cup and then trimmed to fit. I made the first one a little too thin so I made it a smaller size.
Enjoy the video below of the process from start to finish!