Kid crafts: How to make cute bottle cap bug magnets

Jul 17, 2014

Nichole Beaudry strives to capture the wonder, beauty, and whimsy in the small moments with her children. She earned her undergraduate degree in English from The University of Texas and her master’s in English from California State Un...

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Here's how to make DIY bug magnets using bottle caps

If we’re honest, bottle caps accumulate much faster in the summer. Your kids will love using them to craft these adorable creepy crawly magnets to hold their art on the refrigerator.

If you're looking for a fun way to use up those bottle caps that pile up during the summer, we think these bottle cap craft bugs are the perfect solution.

Supplies:

Bottle caps (While you can buy new caps, we chose to save ours for a few weeks so that we could reuse what we already had.)
Assorted acrylic paints (We used red, black, white, yellow and green.)
Small round magnets
Toothpicks
Wiggly eyes
Paintbrushes

Directions:

For ladybugs and bumblebees:

Step 1: Paint

Paint 1/3 of each bottle cap black. Allow them to dry completely. Apply additional coats until the paint is completely opaque, allowing the paint to dry fully between coats. I found that some colors required two coats and others required three. Acrylic paints dry rather quickly.

For bumblebees, paint the remaining 2/3 of the cap yellow. For ladybugs, paint the remaining 2/3 of the bottle cap red. For bees, add black stripes once the final coat of yellow paint has dried completely. Add an additional coat of paint if necessary. For ladybugs, apply black polka dots in a random pattern. Again, add an additional coat of paint if necessary to achieve full coverage.

Step 2: Glue on magnet

Once fully dry, flip over and glue a magnet to the underside of the cap. Allow the glue to cure completely. Flip the cap back over and apply two wiggly eyes to the black 1/3 of the cap.

For caterpillars:

Step 1: Paint

Paint five bottle caps green. Allow the paint to dry completely. Apply additional coats until the paint is completely opaque, allowing the paint to dry fully between coats.

Step 2: Add dots

Apply yellow and black dots of paint. Draw a curved line in black paint on the end cap to create a smile. Allow the dots to dry completely and add additional coats of paint as needed. Allow the paint to dry completely.

Step 3: Glue together

Glue together the edges of each of the five caps to form the body of the caterpillar. Once the glue has completely cured, flip the caterpillar over and glue one magnet to the first cap and a second magnet to the fifth magnet. Allow the glue to dry. Flip the caps back over and apply one wiggly eye to the end of the caterpillar, just above the smile.