Love Bug

Love Bug Valentine's Day Craft - Easy Recycled Toilet Paper Roll Project for Kids

This happy little love bug can't wait to spread some Valentine cheer to your favorite people! Transform a simple toilet paper tube into something special with this easy, eco-friendly craft that combines creativity with recycling. Kids will love making their own colorful love bug while learning about reusing materials and spreading kindness.

15-30 minutes Ages 5-10

About This Project

A 15–30 minutes craft for ages 5–10, using supplies you likely already have — Hole Punches, Stickers, and Scissors.

GlueStick supports kids from setup to cleanup. After they choose a project, we guide them through gathering the supplies, making it, and cleaning up when they're done. We'll even help them share it safely with trusted family and friends.

Ad-free and kid-safe library — designed by a mom who wants kids to explore and create independently.

This project is perfect for:
Project Tags
valentine's day valentine insects love bug recycled materials paper craft paper crafting rainy day
  1. 1

    Find Supplies

    Do you have everything you need?
    Create a free GlueStick account to track supplies and see if you have what you need at a glance. Leave your kids tips about where supplies are stored in your household so they can set up and clean up their creative spaces independently.
    00:00
    A cartoon of Hole Punches
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Stickers
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Scissors
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Googly Eyes
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of White Glue
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Paper Clips
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Markers
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Toilet Paper Rolls
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Paper
    You have: unknown
    A cartoon of Pipe Cleaners
    You have: unknown
  2. 2

    Make Love Bug

    Your creative buddy says:
    "Are you as excited to make this as I am?"

    Step 1: Add the antennae

    To make the antennae, make a small hole near the top of your cardboard tube. A hole punch works great for this, but a scissors will do if you don't have one. Insert the pipe cleaner into the hole and pull through until your ends are even. Give the pipe cleaner a few good twists to hold it in place. Then, wrap the free ends around a marker 1 or 2 times to curl them. A fatter marker will make a looser curl. A skinny marker will make a very tight curl.

    Step 2: Cover the body with paper

    Cut a strip of paper the height of your toilet paper tube (probably about 4"). Spread white glue all the way around your tube, then wrap the paper around it as shown. Add another very thin line of glue to the edge to hold it in place.

    Step 3: Paper Clip Securely

    To make sure the paper you glued to the tube dries nice and snug, we recommend using a paper clip to hold the paper in place while it dries. This also allows you to keep working on your project even if it's not 100% dry.

    Step 4: Cut your wings

    Make wings by cutting two medium-sized hearts from a piece of paper. To make our wings even, we folded our paper into fourths, then cut a large C shape along one of the folds to make two hearts.

    Step 5: Glue on your wings

    Glue the wings to the back of your love bug, covering the seam of the paper around your tube. For extra support while drying, tuck them into your paper clip.

    Step 6: Add the face and accessories

    Carefully glue on googly eyes, draw a smile, and use stickers or other embellishments to decorate your love bug. We gave our bug a washi-tape belt and made it look like she was wearing a swishy skirt by adding a few details with markers. Get creative! Make your bug your own.
  3. 3

    Clean up

    Put things away so your space is tidy for next time.

    Tidy up our space

    Put away our supplies

    Check off each supply when it is put away — and any clean-up tips underneath are done too. You might find a fun surprise!

    • A cartoon of Stickers
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Googly Eyes
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of White Glue
      Where they belong:
      • — Don't forget! Close glue lids.
    • A cartoon of Paper Clips
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Markers
      Where they belong:
      • — Don't forget! Close all marker caps tightly.
    • A cartoon of Toilet Paper Rolls
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Paper
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Pipe Cleaners
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Hole Punches
      Where they belong:
    • A cartoon of Scissors
      Where they belong:

    Update what we have left

    Did we run out of anything while making this project? Update our supply cupboard so that we know exactly what we have for next time.
    Create a free account to manage your cupboard

    This project could unlock 2 creative buddies. Sign in to unlock them.

  4. 4

    Save

    Your creative buddy says:
    "I love how you stuck with your creative ideas!"

    Create a free account to save your digital masterpiece to the Art Gallery.

    Sign in Create account

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About the Author

Abby Allen

Abby Allen is a mom, software engineer, and founder who loves to inspire kids to do more arts, crafts, and science experiments at home. When she's not busy building GlueStick, you can find her leading her Girl Scout troop or somewhere exploring with the family on their latest RV adventure.

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