Bee Ornament

How to Make Honey Bee and Bumblebee Ornaments

Don't you think this little honeybee ornament is mighty sweet? I do!

And you can make a bumblebee ornament that's just as cute simply by switching the colors of the layers.

The bee ornament is very versatile. These handmade ornaments can hang on the Christmas tree or be "anytime" ornaments displayed in your kitchen, powder room, or sun room.

What a great arts and crafts project! Here's how to make these little fellows.

Materials

55 mm clear glass ball ornament (approximately 2-1/8 inches from top to bottom, not including the cap)

• Be sure to get a glass ball with a cap that has "leaves" with spaced slots between them, like the cap in the photo.

• Not all ornaments have caps like this, so be sure you get the right kind. They come in gold and silver color and have seven "slots." See Ornament Cap and Spring Wire Design for more information.

One black chenille stem (pipe cleaner) (12 inches) (for wings)

Another piece of black pipe cleaner (about 7 inches) (for antennae)

Yellow paper shred

Black paper shred

2 pompons (either black or yellow)

2 large wiggle eyes

Glue (for pompons and wiggle eyes if you don't use self-adhesive ones)

Ribbon (whatever color you want.)

Instructions

Remove the cap from the glass ball.

Partially fill ball with shred. Use the eraser end of a pencil to push the shred through the hole. The rim of the ball under the cap often has sharp points of glass.

• If you want to make a honey bee, add yellow shred. If you are making a bumblebee, add black shred.

Tamp the shred down until it is fairly level on top. (Again, the eraser end of a pencil works well for this purpose.)

Add a layer of black shred (for honey bee) or yellow shred (for bumblebee). This layer will be the bee's stripe.

Tamp the shred down until level on top, using eraser end of pencil.

Then fill the rest of the ball with yellow shred (for honey bee) or black shred (for bumble bee).

• Tip: Sometimes I have to work a bit to get the layers as even as I want them to be. I find that using a pointed wooden stick helps me to move bits of shred up or down as needed to make an even line of demarcation between the two colors.

Loop the 12-inch pipe cleaner and twist the ends together. Bend in the middle and twist once to make a "figure eight."(See photos below.)

Work the pipe cleaner into four grooves of the ornament cap as shown in the photo to the right.

It doesn't show up well in the photo, but the twisted part of the pipe cleaner is sticking up. It will go inside the ornament once the cap is placed on the bulb (and will help keep the wings firmly affixed), but first we need to shape the antennae.

Take the 7-inch piece of pipe cleaner and shape it as shown in the photo on the left below.

Make a little hook at the "V" as shown in the middle photo.

Attach the "V," working one antenna into one groove and the other antenna into the adjacent groove, as shown in the third photo below. (Note: These are not the same grooves that hold the wings.) Again, the "hook" doesn't really show up in the photo but it is sticking up. The hook will go inside the ornament bulb and help keep the antennae firmly affixed.

Now turn the cap over and place it on the top of the ornament. Secure the cap with the spring wire.

Pull the antennae up as shown in the third photo below.

Your bee ornament is really taking shape now. Just a few more steps to go!

Attach pompons where the eyes will go.

Attach the wiggle eyes on top of the pompons.

Loop a ribbon through the spring wire and knot it good and tight.

Your bee ornament is now completed and ready to display!

When you are ready to store your bee ornament, you may want to use this recycled plastic ornament storage box.

If you want to make glass ornaments like this bee ornament throughout the year, be sure to stock up on your supplies in the Fall when they are available in craft stores. For more information, see this Craft Tip.

See Handmade Ornaments for All Occasions for a complete listing and photos of all ornaments featured on How To Arts and Crafts.

Please feel free to link to this page! Here is what your link will look like:

To make this adorable Bee Ornament, see the step-by-step tutorial and photos on the How To Arts and Crafts.com website.

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