By Dave and Mary

Bumble Bee Decorations for Your
Front Porch Or Garden

Our bumble bee decorations are perfect for your front porch or garden. Your kids will love making these with you; we used scrap material, some yellow and black paint, and a few silver pipe cleaners.

Mary and I enjoyed making these with our grandchildren and they look fantastic on our porch and in our porch landscaping for summer.

They create lots of interest and add color too.

whimsical bumble bee art for the garden

Porch and garden bumble bee decorations

Make Our Bumble Bee Decorations

We made these from scrap wood but you can also purchase treated fence slats which are very inexpensive.

materials to make bumble bee yard decorations

materials to make bumble bee yard decorations

Some of the materials you may need

Materials and Instructions for Our Small Bumble Bees

One piece of wood approximately 5 inches by 2 1/2 inches by 3/4 inches thick
Jig saw or band saw
Pencil
1 round wooden ball (available at Home Depot/Hobby Lobby, etc.) Please note that I used threaded wooden balls (in photo above) I had on hand; there is no need to use those).
1/4 dowel for mounting the bee (you can cut two small pieces for the eyes or use wooden buttons)
2 silver pipe cleaners
Black and yellow craft paint
Exterior glue or hot glue gun
Brush
Polyurethane (optional)
Drill and 1/4 inch bit
Sand paper or sander

Materials for Large Bumble Bee Decorations

One piece of exterior plywood approximately 14 inches by 20 inches by 1/2 or 3/4 inches for the large bee
One 4 inch round Styrofoam ball
7 silver pipe cleaners
Jig saw or band saw
Pencil
2 silver pipe cleaners
Black and yellow craft paint
Exterior glue
Brush
Polyurethane (optional)
Sand paper or sander
Spray can of flat black paint for bee's head

Small Bumble Bee Decoration Tutorial

Step 1

Begin by drawing the shape of a bumble bee on the piece of wood and cutting it out with the jigsaw or band saw. Sand the edges smooth.

cutting a bumble bee decoration using a band saw

cutting a bumble bee decoration using a band saw

Cutting the bumble bee shape on band saw

Sanding the bumble bee

Step 1A - Optional

If mounting on a dowel like we did, drill a 1/4 inch hole along one edge of the body depending on how you want to display the bumble bee.

drilling hole in the bumble bee decoration

drilling hole in the bumble bee decoration

Drilling 1/4 inch hole in bumble bee

Step 2

Glue the round ball on the piece of wood for the bee's head. Let dry.

attaching the bumble bee head onto the bumble bee decoration

Attaching bumble bee head onto body

Step 3

Cut two small pieces of dowel for the eyes (I used wooden buttons) and glue to the round ball for the bee's eyes.

Step 4

Kids painted the bodies yellow then taped off sections to be painted in black. Use alternating black and yellow paint to cover the body as depicted.

kids painting bumble bee for bumble bee decorations

kids painting bumble bee for bumble bee decorations

Bumble bee painting operation

kid painting bumble bee for bumble bee decorations

Painting the finishing touches!

Step 5

Paint the head either yellow or black.

Step 6

Cut and shape silver pipe cleaners into wings and antennae and glue to the body.

gluing bee wings on bees

Gluing pipe cleaner wings on bees

Bee construction sequencing

Step 7

Insert dowel (may want to add a spot of glue) into the body and place in potted plants, yard, or garden as desired. We used a coat of polyurethane to protect them from the weather.

bumble bee decoration in yard

Bumble bee decoration on dowel in front porch landscaping