Make It! Egg Bumble Bees

We're egg central around here. Springtime is my favorite season of the year. The promise of new growth and fresh beginnings fills me with a renewed spirit and sense of purpose. It is fitting that the simple egg, symbolic of fertility and life is used in so many of our spring crafts.

When I found these Easter egg bees at Family Fun, The Boy and I decided to give them a try. Our bees have slight variations which I thought made the project easier, so I'm including another tutorial.

You'll need:

• eggs
• egg dye

• black and red permanent markers
• white coffee filters
• glue
• Scotch tape
• fishing line
• black chenille pipe cleaner

Begin by carefully dyeing your raw eggs in yellow egg dye. The longer you leave your eggs in the dye, the more vibrant the color will be.
After your eggs are the right shade of yellow, remove them from the dye pot and allow them to dry. Using a bead reamer, needle, awl, etc., carefully poke a hole in each end of the egg, so that you can blow the contents out over a bowl or the sink. Rinse your egg briefly to make sure no egg material is left on the outside, and allow your egg to dry completely. Rinsing too long will cause some of the dye to wash off.

Grab your black permanent marker and draw two circles around the body of your egg. The pointier end of the egg will eventually become the bee's behind (stinger).
We cut two small wing shapes from a white coffee filter and using a small dab of glue, situated them in the middle yellow section of the bee.



Take your black and red permanent markers and draw eyes and a mouth on the rounder side of your egg:
Cut a length of fishing line and straighten a paper clip. Using a small piece of tape, attach the end of the line to the paper clip and thread the line through the two holes in your bumble bee:



Cut a small piece of black chenille pipe cleaner smaller than the length of your bee and carefully thread it into your bee's behinder. This forms the bee stinger. Using a teeny, tiny piece of clear tape, tape the fishing line to the back of the bee body. This allows your bee to stay hanging upright. If you look carefully, you should be able to see the tape in the photo:

Now just hang your bee! Ours are hanging in our window - overlooking the area where we will plant our garden in a few short weeks.


Buzzing about,
Simple Mama