Who says that you need a lot of money for a creative Christmas gift? In the next few days I will share a few easy, yet unique and thoughtful gifts you can make with easy to find supplies and a little work.
This little guy is easy to make and makes a great quirky (yet fashionable) gift for both adults and kids. It is really simple to make a basic bug brooch, but I added a few extra details to add some flare and that something special that separates DIY and DIWhy.
Supplies that you will need:
-black felt for the body and white felt for the wings
-white glitter for wings and 4 flat beads for eyes (small buttons will work too)
-scissors
-pliers (optional)
-four pieces of wire with flat or ball ending for the legs
-needle and black thread
-white tulle or mesh for underwings
-glue and small brush
- classic brooch/ pin clasp
The easiest way to make sure body and wings look good is to draw them on a piece of paper, cut them out and use the paper as a stencil.
This step is optional, but I think it adds some dimension to the whole project: use needle and black thread to make a simple cross pattern on the body. I do not recommend using sewing machine, unless you are a wizard with it, since mine ate the felt right up, so I had to start over a few times. It took me only 6 minutes to stitch by hand.
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Apply the glue all over wings and cover them with glitter (I used brush for extra precision). When it is completely dry, cover glitter with thin layer of glue to fix it, that way you will make sure that glitter doesn't end up all over the clothes - we all know how glitter likes to do that.
Cut mesh or tulle in the shape of the wings and position them approx. 1/4 from the top of the body. Fix them with glue and immediately add another layer to fix white glittery wings. For extra flare, make sure some mesh/tulle will peak under the glittery wings.
Bend the wire with your fingers or pliers and position it so that front legs peek under wings and back legs follow shape of the body.
Sew through the bugs "head" above wings to attach flat beads on each side and make sure to make a bigger knot, so the beads don't fall off. These flat beads are really easy to find in any craft store and any color would look good for the eyes. I opted out for basic black and translucent rainbow to make eyes pop a bit, but gold or green would also look good. Tip: use acrylic color or permanent marker to paint the beads if you can't find the color or finish you like.
Cut a small rectangular piece of felt and sew/glue brooch clasp on it and use glue to cover the wire ends on the bottom side of the brooch, that way it won't pull threads from the clothes.
Optional mini additional step: Use black waterproof marker to paint the wire black. It doesn't transfer on clothes and makes this little guy even more handsome.
All done!
