Ladybird Paperweights

(pictures coming soon)

What You Need

Large pebbles/smooth stones, preferably round

paint, - acrylic paint lasts longer than powder paint or watercolour and is more vivid on stones, or you could use gloss paint, depending how adventurous you’re feeling about cleaning up!…(if you use an oil-based paint, remember you will need thinners like white spirit or turpentine to clean up afterwards)

 paintbrush/es

water pot

felt tips/ permanent markers

Clear acrylic varnish

PVA glue

optional extras– felt scraps or googly eyes or small circular stickers, cloth (for blotting brush), mixing pallette, gesso.

Method

Wash and dry the stones thoroughly, if you’ve collected them from your garden. Choose rounded ones with flat(ish) tops If you can’t find suitable stones, you can buy them in most craft suppliers, garden centers and pet shops.

For the best results start by painting your stone with a basecoat (use something like gesso, or you could just use white or black paint.) and allowing it to dry, but if you just can’t wait, choose your colours and paint them all over the top surface of the stone. Paint the wings in red, yellow or orange. Don’t forget that the body usually looks black under the  wings, leave some black at either end for the head and the tail. Add some spots, either by painting them on, or using stickers. You could even glue on some scraps of black felt or other similar fabric. Add the eyes to the front of the head, with paint or fabric or stickers or attach googly eyes. Allow to dry. Seal with varnish. (spray varnish is easier to use, but can be a bit smelly, so use it in a well ventilated space…you might choose to add the googly eyes after spraying with varnish to prevent the plastic on the eyes from getting a sticky film on them.