This cute summer dragonfly craft is a great activity to keep the kids busy over the summer holidays and it looks adorable too! We used a glue gun to make our little butterflies but it works with pva or tacky glue too; you just need to be a little extra patient!
Here’s what we used
Popsicle sticks
Tacky glue/glue gun/pva
Googly eyes
Pipe Cleaners
Scissors
How to make this cute summer dragonfly craft
Glue several smaller Pom poms across the length of the popsicle stick to make the body and a large one on the end to make the end. if you’re using pva or slow drying tacky glue then you will need to leave it a while to die.
Twist two pipe cleaners together in the middle to make a cross. Twist the centre of the pipe cleaners around the popsicle stick near the head and then bend each wing piece inwards and twist to secure.
Now twist another pipe cleaner around the stick at its centre and curl the ends around to make the antennae.
Glue on two Googly eyes and once dry your adorable popsicle stick dragonfly is ready to play with or display!
We use a lot of pom poms in our crafting, they’re just so much fun! We also have a basket of them on the side which the kids use for pretend snowball fights. They’re so versatile and so easy to make too, so I thought I would show your our favorite 2 ways to make perfect pom poms!
Method 1 – using a pom pom maker
Pom pom makers are our go to when we want perfect pom poms. This brand in particular is great especially when crafting with kids. They’re nice and chunky so are easy to grip and the ridges are a helpful guide as to when the pom poms are ready to snip. if you want to spend a little i highly recommend these clover pom pom makers (availabe here for our American friends) – there is a very good reason why they’re so popular!. We find that these are the best way to get perfectly round and fluffy pom poms but if you’re looking for a fast and free way why not check out method 2 – finger pom poms!
Take your yarn and wrap it around one side of the pom pom maker. Continue wrapping it around until its even all the way across. This particular brand of pom pom maker is super handy because you’ll know its ready when the ridges are totally rounded. But otherwise you can just adjust your yarn to your desired thickness – we usually do 3-4 layers when using dk yarn.
Repeat the previous step on the the other side of the pom pom maker.
Place the scissors inside the gap on the edge of the pom pom maker. Slowly snip all the way around both edges making sure you hold the pom pom maker together securely.
Take a separate length of yarn, slot it through the edge of the pom pom maker then pull it into a taught knot. Bring the two ends of yarn around to the other side of the pom pom maker and tie it into a double knot to secure.
Pull open the two arms of the pom pom maker and separate the two halves. Remove the pom pom, fluff it up, then take the scissors and trim it down removing any stray ends. Your perfect pom pom is finished! These pom pom makers are fab, we love using ours.
Method 2 – making pom poms using fingers.
Wrap the yarn several times around the middle three fingers (you can adjust the amount of fingers you use to alter the sizes).
Once you’re happy with the thickness of your yarn, carefully slip if off of your fingers and onto the table. Take a length of string and tie it around the centre of your entire yarn, flip the pom pom around and tie it on the other side in a double knot to secure.
Pop your scissors into the edge of your pom pom and slowly snip the loops open at their central point. Fluff up your pom pom.
Take your scissors and snip all around your pom pom until you are happy with it. Though the pom poms don’t turn out quite as perfect looking this way they are still super cute, plus its fast and free!
