In today’s post: Turn old golf balls into love bugs for Valentine’s Day.
Today’s project is an easy Valentine’s Day craft for kids: golf ball love bugs. These were inspired by golf ball ladybugs I have seen online (these ones are especially cute) – we just adjusted them a bit for Valentine’s Day and figured out how to make the painting/drying process faster!
Click here for more Valentine’s Day crafts
This is a simple craft you can make with your kids. The hardest part for little ones will be waiting for the paint on the golf balls to dry, especially since you can only paint half of the ball at once. Our trick is to use a HAIR DRYER set on low/cool. You can blow it on the area you’ve already painted and it will dry in about a minute!
Another tip is to use the top of an egg carton as a drying rack for the painted golf balls.
For complete color coverage, it will likely take 2-3 coats of paint, but most little children won’t care if the logo still shows through after just one coat.
You can make these love bugs in any color you like – I chose various shades of pink to match the cute little pink hearts that we glued to the ends of the antennae.
If you’d like to keep your DIY love bugs in your garden, you will need to seal them with some sort of poly spray to make sure the paint doesn’t chip or run if they get wet.
Golf Ball Love Bugs Supplies
You’ll need the following items to make golf ball love bugs:
- Golf balls
- Acrylic paint in pink and white
- Foam paintbrush
- Black Sharpie
- Black Pipe Cleaner
- Small Hearts or Pom Poms
- Hot Glue
- Optional: Sand paper can be used to lightly sand the golf balls so the paint adheres better
- Optional: Hair dryer to dry the paint faster
How to Make Love Bugs
Golf Ball Love Bugs
Supplies
- Golf Balls
- Acrylic Paint pink and white
- Paint Brush
- Black Sharpie
- Black Pipe Cleaner
- Small Hearts or Pom Poms
- Hot Glue
Want more project ideas? Sign up to get my favorite easy crafts and recipes straight to your inbox!
Instructions
- Optional: Lightly sand the golf balls first to help the paint adhere. This is not required, but might be helpful.
- Paint golf balls pink. It's easiest to hold the golf ball in one hand and paint one half of it with the other hand, then let it dry before painting the bottom half. We used a hair dryer on low to dry the paint quickly. It may take 2-3 coats of paint to completely cover the golf balls. I found an egg carton made a great drying rack.
- Use a black Sharpie to draw an oval on the front of the golf ball for a face.
- Also draw a line across the top of the ball and add dots using the Sharpie. Use the end of a skewer or paintbrush (or the tip of a pencil) to make dots of white paint for eyes.
- Use hot glue to attach pipe cleaners for antennae. Glue felt hearts or pom poms at the end of the antennae.
Yongi says
It’s so cute! Maybe my kids really like monkey mart