DIY Little Ladybugs (from walnut shells)

April 13, 2014

reading time: ca. 2 min

Who knew you could get crafty with walnut shells? My granny actually gave me that idea when i was visiting her last month, and i love it! Such an adorable and easy way to recycle walnut shells. These are great to make with your family during the Easter holidays, don't you think?

You need:
- walnut shells
- red paint *
- black paint (or a little bit of black felt + glue)
- paint brush
- optional: googly eyes (or a tiny bit of white felt/cardboard or white paint)

Step 01

Take your walnut shells - if you don't have half a walnut shell, carefully crack open a walnut so that you have a perfect half (don't worry, it's very common to break one half. A tip i've heard is to bake the walnuts for 15 minutes at 350°F in the oven before cracking.) Clean out and eat the walnuts :)

Paint the outside of your walnut shell with red paint. It may take a couple of coats to get it good and red. Then allow it to dry completely.

Step 02

Once all the red paint is dry, paint the front of your shell with black for the little face, and add some black spots on top of the red shell. Or glue little black felt dots to the back. Also, glue your two googly eyes on the black area for the ladybug's eyes. Allow everything to dry again.

Step 3

Now for the other cute critters you basically do the same, except with other colours and patterns. I went for a bumble bee with black and yellow stripes, a maybug and a little baby bug. For the latter i cut out some green cardboard in the shape of a leaf and glued that to the bottom of the walnut shell.
Just get creative and have fun!

This DIY is great for:

- Family crafting
- Summer camp or holidays
- Babysitting
- Daycare
- Play groups
- Birthday parties
-> It's just a great way to turn some walnuts into summer insects!

Also, isn't that vintage paint set above absolutely lovely?