How to make a ladybug for your garden

I love finding new things to add to my flower gardens.  This year I found the cutest new addition on Pinterest and decided to make one for myself and my buddies, Jackie and Margaret!  I also saw these in a friends flowerbed but hers were smaller and   a entire family of them crossing the flowerbed.  Hope you like these!

First, you need an ordinary bowling ball.  Jackie found four  of them for me at the local Goodwill stores for a couple bucks.  I took them home and hubby cut them in half for me.   He said this was no easy chore because he wasn’t sure he was cutting them exactly in half.

Bowling balls cut in half

Next, clean the bowling balls making sure that all dust and residue are gone before the first coat of paint is put on.  I used a spray enamel for the interior and exterior.  Let the first coat of paint dry completely.  I let it dry overnight.  A mistake I made with the first venture was not painting the bottom.  I sprayed the bottom of each half with black enamel (two coats, dry completely between coats) and then spray the red, orange, yellow, whatever color you want.

First coat of red paint.

After the third coat of red had dried, I turned the crafting over to my granddaughter to paint their faces and bodies.  She’s pretty good and has a flair for the dramatic.  I was afraid she would get a little carried away and decided she needed a template to go by.  After all her hard work we decided they would look better with a whimsical flair.

Victoria helping Nana with the artwork. We started with serious ladybug faces.

We sat them out in the sun to dry and that’s when we decided we needed to make some changes.

This is the point where we decided they needed  a touch of whimsy!  After all her hard work, Nana decided to paint over their faces and add some legs.  The legs were designed by hubby and his workshop.  They consisted of some dowel rods about three inches long and tiny little boots made from scrap lumber.  Once put together, I painted their sneakers white or black with contrasting laces.    What do you think of the end result??

Big eyes & eyelashes.

Cute red tennis shoes.

Crafting is so much fun and I promise more projects in the very near future!!  Thanks Victoria for helping Nana!!