Water Bottle Love Bugs

Hello there! It’s Megan from Homemade Ginger and I know that you will be as obsessed with this Valentine’s day craft as I am!

As soon as the Christmas decor came down, the Valentine’s Day crafts and accessories came out! I think that Valentine’s Day is such a fun holiday for kids. My girls absolutely love picking out their Valentines every year. Of course it has to be something that really expresses their personality! Last year, they had fun making their own Valentines to pass out to their classmates. Even though it was definitely more work for mom, I loved seeing how excited they got about creating their Valentines themselves.

As my kids have gotten older, I have grown to love attending their Valentine parties at school. I often will volunteer to help with the games or crafts. I’m always trying to think of ideas that would make a great craft for a school party and I think these little love bugs would be just perfect! They are so easy to put together and the best thing about them is that you can insert a few glow sticks inside the water bottle to make these little bugs glow in the dark! I think both boys and girls will love making their own love bug for Valentine’s Day this year!

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

This pop bottle firefly that I made a few years ago was so popular, that I just had to try a smaller version for Valentine’s Day! I think I may even like this one better! You could make these with larger water bottles or even 2 liter soda bottles. Any size would work well!

Water Bottle Love Bugs

Here is what you will need for this craft:

Small Water Bottles

Foam Heart Stickers – large and small

Red Pipe Cleaners

Pink Craft Paint

Googly Eyes

Glow Sticks

Hot Glue Gun

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

First, paint your water bottle with a thin coat of pink paint. You want the paint to still be a little see through so that the glow sticks will shine through it later.

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

Next, wrap 3 pipe cleaners around the bottle and twist at the bottom to create the insect legs.

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

Attach 2 foam heart stickers on either side of the ends of the pipe cleaners to create the feet.

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

Attach 2 large foam hearts to the back of the bug for wings.

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

Wrap another pipe cleaner around the base of the mouth of the bottle and twist. Wrap the pipe cleaner around a pencil to create a coil.

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

Attach 2 more foam hearts on either side of the ends of the pipe cleaner to create the antenna.

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

Glue 2 googly eyes onto the lid.

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!

Once you are ready to light up your bug, activate the glow sticks and insert them into the bottle. You may need to bend your glow sticks to get them to fit inside the bottle. I found that using 2 or 3 worked best to create the brightest bug possible!

Create love bugs for Valentine's Day using water bottles and glow sticks. They are SO fun to play with in a dark room!