Hi all! I am headed to the family cottage in western PA next weekend. My great niece & nephew will be there too, ages 5 & 7. After reading through this forum, I thought making "ladybug" stones would be a great project, especially if the weather is crummy. The Allegheny River has an endless supply of rocks and stones to choose from.

Now I just need to find out how to get started. I have read the "turtle" project, which I think would be a little 'too' artistic for me & the kids yet, but ladybugs seem simpler... don't they? I did learn to wash & clean the rocks first, and let them dry well. But then, do I paint the entire rock red? then what? What is everyone's favorite sealer, since they will probably be outside bugs

Any help would surely be appreciated, Thanks all! ~Jan

Jan,
I'm glad you joined us!
Here's the easiest way to make the stones:

Paint the stones red at least 2 times or for a brighter red, paint the rock white first, then two coats of red. Let each coat dry in between.

For a beginners project, lady bugs are easy! You can get a little more elaborate by looking at this link for other ideas:
http://www.google.com/search?t...

Then paint the head black.
Add a stripe down it's back.
Add polka dots.
Add eyes!

I'm going to find a photo for you and will add it to your first post so you'll have an image to guide you.

Have fun!

Perfect! This is exactly the information I needed, thanks so much ~Jan

Jan, you probably already know this but be sure to use acrylic paint on your ladybugs.

Actually, no I didn't know! Thanks for the info, writing that on my list now.....

You're welcome Jan!

Thanks Sharon.

Also, use Krylon Spray sealer on them....you can buy both the paints and sealer at a Walmart store or any craft store.

Excellent! Thanks!

I sold these like crazy this weekend,around 50 or 60, so now I have to make more. I'll take pics as I go to help you along.

A tutorial would be great! Robin, how much did you sell them for?

First off I used glass globs because I needed uniformity, half of them had magnets glued to the back and the other half had tie tack pins glued on the back. I sold these for $1.00 each. I can do 50 bugs in an hour.

Except for the first step where I used spray paint and the sealing at the end, all hand painting is done with acrylic paint.

First I laid all the globs out on newspaper and then spray painted them white. Cheap Walmart spray paint.


Next I hand painted red on 3/4 of the stone. 2 coats. Let dry after eack coat.


Black paint, 1 coat on the 1/4 unpainted part.


Next I paint the black stripe down the back (these are not perfect lines, hands shake a bit)


Next comes all the black dots and the white dots for the eyes. You can use a toothpick for this.


Last I use Krylon Triple Thick Gloss to seal.

Oh those are cute!!!~Jan

Thanks, I've been making Ladybugs for about 35 years. I use to use Cowry shells, cause I could get them for $2.00 a 10lb can.Now they are $60.00 for same amount. These are easier to work with. I use the same method for stones.

So adorable Robin! And you are so fast...I'm a slow poke. Thanks for showing us all the photos.

What are the glass globs? Tell me more about these.

I used to buy 4 kinda ugly ladybug magnets for $1 and repaint them, selling them all for $1.00. Not a bad profit when it's just TV time painting and I already had the paint.

Glass globs are the colored glass that you can find in the floral dept. like at Walmart. You put them in vases and things like that to give them color and to help hold flowers and such. It is the first photo, all those red glass globs. I'll go look here in a few minutes at the packages they come in to find the name.

They are the same as what I used on my bowling ball.

Yes Sharon. The package says Gems.

When they are melted, or used in kiln work, they are referred to as glass globs or globules. We used to make clay tiles and then high fire them with glass globs on them. Can't remember the temp required to melt glass, but it made a neat glass covered tile. The glass melts and fuses into the clay.

Imapigeon would know, so would the lady in Texas who does a lot of stained glass. She was on Cubits a lot, and did beautiful work. Another garden art form, but I no longer have a kiln.

I like the cute uniform shape!