Create and inviting space for the bugs to live with this easy to make bug hotel. Go on a scavenger hunt in the garden or the park to find pinecones, dry leaves, sticks and other things bugs like to hide in!
What You Need
A wooden box or crate
A staple gun
Coconut liner the same size as your box (available from garden centres)
Natural twine
A few cardboard tubes and/or toilet rolls
Sticks, twigs, pinecones, dry leaves and flax
Florist wire and wire cutters
Steps:
First, create a base by using the staple gun to attach the coconut liner onto the back of your box. Then take the twine and create a zig zag pattern from top to bottom. Secure with staples as you go. You want it firm, but make sure it’s not so tight that you can’t weave the sticks through.
Take 15 – 20 sticks or twigs, and weave these in and out of the twine, so they feel secure. Keep going until you cover the back of the box.
Now it’s time to decorate! Take a large cardboard roll, cut to size, and use twine to secure it to the twigs. You can also use staples to secure the twine.
You can also use florist wire to tie on the large pinecones and other bits.
Keep building! You may like to add a few more cardboard rolls and fill with flax and dry leaves, add more pinecones and other bits of wood to create ‘rooms’ and small terracotta pots. Create as many spaces as you can for the bugs to make their home!
First created for Create and Craft TV