How to Make Garden Bugs Out of Old Jars

Overview

A decorative garden project with a variety of finished results is to make garden bugs out of old jars. A safe project for working as a children’s activity or on your own, the little bugs can be placed outside, set in flower pots, or set on bookshelves or tables inside your home. Once you have the basics down of how to make the garden bugs, use your imagination to dress them up or design them however you please.

Step 1

Clip a length of wire 8 inches long. Wrap the center of the wire around the rim of the jar below the lid, and twist it together once to fasten it around the rim.

Step 2

Spread the two ends of the wire away from one another and use needle nose pliers to curl the ends into a spiral to form the antennae of your bug.

Step 3

Repeat Step One, but position this wire so it twists on the opposite side of the rim. Bring these two ends away from one another and use the pliers to bend the bottom 1/2-inch of the ends out like a foot. Bend the wire, if desired, to also form a knee joint to make the front legs of your bug.

Step 4

Set the jar on a flat table with only an edge of the bottom of the jar and the two front legs touching the table. Create four more legs for the bug by cutting and gluing pipe cleaners of varying lengths onto the underside of the bug’s jar body and let them extend down to the table.

Step 5

Paint a face onto the lid of the jar and allow it to dry. Paint designs or add glitter glue to the body of the jar to decorate the body of the bug.

Step 6

Create wings by curving a length of pipe cleaner into a wing outline. Glue tissue paper to the pipe cleaner over the open wing area and allow it to dry. Make a second wing the same way. Clip off any excess tissue paper which extends beyond the pipe cleaner and glue the pipe cleaner ends to the top of the jar.