Erin Fox
With school over and the summer holidays in full swing, it means later bed times and more time outdoors enjoying the balmy summery air. While summer holidays have an endless list of highlights, they also bring pesky bugs and midges.
But you can make your own insect that won’t ‘bug’ you, out of recycled drink bottles. After you have finished a refreshing summery drink, save the bottle to make it into a night light or a decoration for the garden on a summer’s evening.
You will need a plastic 500ml bottle either green or clear, pipe cleaners, glue, coloured card, scissors, coloured strips of organza, battery operated fairy lights or a glow stick or some small glow in the dark stars.
Remove the label from the bottle and wash out the inside. Place it upside down somewhere to dry.
To make the legs, tie three long pipe cleaners around the middle of the bottle, spacing them an equal distance apart. Twist the pipe cleaners so that the bottle will rest on the bug’s ‘feet’.
Wrap a piece of coloured card round the middle of the bottle to cover the pipe cleaners. Trim the card where it meets the feet and secure in place with some glue.
Next make a template for the wings. Draw two wings together onto a piece of card and cut this out for the template. Pin this to the organza and cut around it. Glue the wings to the middle of the bottle onto the coloured strip of card.
Tie another pipe cleaner around the neck of the bottle near the lid. Twist into shape for the bug’s antenna. Glue two googly eyes or large sparkly beads or a pair of buttons onto either side of the bottle lid for the bug’s eyes. The bigger the better!
Next, pop a glow stick inside the bottle and screw on the lid. If using battery operated fairy lights, cut out a hole from the end of the bottom of the bottle so you can place the lights inside.
Have a go at making more bugs with large bottles or even smaller bottles for a family of bugs. Use thick furry brown pipe cleaners and brown feathers on one of the bugs to make a night moth.