Ladybug Garden Art

I thought you might enjoy a fun easy project for your garden...the Ladybug. If you are experienced or hopelessly uncrafty, this is a sure winner. Experience level=Easy! Can be completed in a few hours, including drying time.

We get so many compliments on how cute our bugs are!

 Here's what you will need:
(1) bowling ball ( I saved myself some work and chose a red ball)
about 2 ft of medium wire
black craft paint, water based
spray gloss polyurethane
(2) plastic googly or animal eyes
(1) sponge
glue
optional: a planter dish


You can easily find bowling balls at your local thrift store for a few dollars.(Hint: Most of these bowling balls come with gloves, bags or shoes. Offer to give those back to the thrift store and offer to buy just the ball and you'll get a better deal.) You can save yourself some time by choosing a red one, so that you will only have to paint the black parts. If you cannot find a red one, think other colors like orange or yellow. If you cannot find anything but a black ball, simply reverse the instructions and use red paint instead of black (see photo).


Place the freshly cleaned bowling ball in front of you with the 2 holes in front and the third hole on top. The two holes will become the eyes and the third hole the antenna. I used regular water based craft paint and painted a wide stripe down the center (see photo) leaving two big red circles on the sides. Then I painted large black dots within those red circles.Then I gave the entire ball a coat of spray gloss polyurethane to protect it from the weather.


Then when everything is dry, stick the sponge down into the third hole. Fashion the wire into antenna and poke into sponge and glue. Glue on eyes...you're done! As an optional element if you are not placing your ladybug onto dirt, you can use a bottom planter dish to stabilize the ball from rolling.


We're sure you'll get many compliments from these happy little ladybugs!