Enjoy Valentine’s Day by creating these upcycled Toilet Paper Roll Love Bugs! Keep your empty paper rolls and transform them into charming love bugs for Valentine’s Day!
RELATED: Pine Cone Love Bugs
These paper roll love bugs are quick to assemble and easy to personalize! Children will enjoy combining different colors, wings, and antennae.
For more paper roll projects, check out our recycled craft book for kids.
These love bugs are wonderfully cute Valentines for friends and relatives. Display them as Valentine decorations, or close the bottom and stuff them with treats.
Materials Required
- Empty toilet paper rolls – one for each love bug (or trim paper towel rolls to size)
- Colored paper – use pink, red, and purple shades
- Pipe cleaners – for creating the antennae
- Pom poms – 0.8 cm wide, 2 for each love bug
- Googly eyes – 3/8″ wide, 2 for each love bug
- Hot glue gun – use only with adult help
- White glue – or tacky glue
- Transparent tape
- Scissors
- Black marker – for drawing the mouth
- Red paint – to create rosy cheeks
- Paintbrush – use the tip for stamping the cheeks
- Printable wing template – available at the end of the post
View the Video Tutorial!
How to Create Toilet Paper Roll Love Bugs
1. Create the body.
Cut colored paper measuring 4″ high by 6″ wide – it is the perfect size for covering the outside of a standard toilet paper roll.
When using a paper towel roll trimmed to size, measure and cut the paper so it fully wraps around your particular roll.
Cover the toilet paper roll with the paper, then fasten it with clear tape or glue.
2. Create the wings.
Print the free template at the bottom of the post and cut out the pieces.
Trace the wings and their details onto various colored papers, then cut out each piece.
Attach the small hearts to the larger heart-shaped wing pieces with glue.
Secure the wings to the back of the paper roll using tacky glue or hot glue.
3. Create the antennae.
Snip a pipe cleaner to approximately 3.75″ and bend it into a V.
With adult help, hot glue the V’s base inside the front of the paper roll. A sticky adhesive glue dot or tacky glue will also work; simply give it sufficient drying time.
Attach one pom pom to the tip of each antenna.
4. Attach the googly eyes and mouth.
Glue 2 googly eyes to the front of the paper roll with white or tacky glue.
Use a black marker to draw a little mouth.
Coat the end of a paintbrush with red paint and stamp 2 rosy cheeks beneath the eyes.
After the paint dries, your love bug is ready!
