Buzz the Bottle Bug

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Follow the directions to make this bug or adapt them to make another fantastic creature

By Laura C. Martin

You Will Need:

• Scissors
• Plastic netting from a clementine box or onion bag
• Pipe cleaners
• Plastic beverage bottle with a cap
• 2 craft beads (the holes should be large enough to thread a pipe cleaner through)
• Googley eyes

Instructions:

1. Cut out a pair of matching wing shapes from the plastic netting.

2. Starting at the base of each wing, thread a pipe cleaner in and out of the holes every inch or so along the outer edge of the netting. You will probably have to twist a second pipe cleaner onto the end of the first one to make it all the way around the wing.

3. Twist the pipe cleaner ends together at the wing base. Then, wrap the twisted ends around each other to connect the two wings.

4. Set the bottle on its side and attach the wings just behind the cap by wrapping another pipe cleaner around them and the bottle neck, as shown, and tightly twisting the ends together a few times.
 
5. Spread the ends of the pipe cleaner to create antennae. Thread a bead onto each and bend the pipe cleaner tip to hold it in place.

6. For legs, bunch three pipe cleaners together, wrap them around the middle of the bottle, and tightly twist the ends together a few times against the underside of the bug’s body. Separate the legs and bend each one twice to form joints. For the finishing touch, glue on googley eyes.

Excerpted from Recycled Crafts Box: Sock Puppets, cardboard castles, bottle bugs & 37 more earth-friendly projects & activities you can create.  Copyright (c) 2004 by Laura C. Martin. Excerpted with permission of Storey Publishing.