Making a Ladybug From Balloons

If you have agile fingers, like to entertain people and are not afraid of popping balloons, try making ladybugs out of balloons at your next ladybug theme party.  Kids are fascinated watching a ladybug being created out of a few simple balloons.  A great way to learn how to "twist" balloons is by watching videos on your computer.  You can find several good videos showing how to do make a really cute ladybug on YouTube.

People who create animals and other things out of balloons are called Twisters, Balloon Benders or Balloon Artists.  In many areas you can find someone who does this professionally and you can hire them to entertain at your party.  A good Web source for learning about balloon twisting and one that has a directory for local professional twisters is BalloonHQ.

But there is no reason you can't "twist" ladybugs out of balloons yourself - with a lot of practice.  Of course it is also best to have the right materials.  Balloons that are good for twisting are specially made and can be ordered on the Web or purchased in party shops.  You will notice in most videos that balloons are referred to by numbers.  (For example, the most common size of twisting balloons is called a "260", as it is approximately two inches in diameter and 60 inches in length.)   Balloon twisting as a form of entertainment has been traced back to 1939.

So get some balloons and be the star of your next party.  But don't forget to put in some practice time beforehand!

Amazing Sculpture Created with Ladybugs

The beautiful sculpture show here, which represents "a goddess of nature" is called "The Lady Bug".
The artist who created the sculpture is Gabor Fulop, who is from Bulgaria. He used artificial resin to create the shapes and then painted each ladybug by hand The thousands of life size bugs (20,000 to be exact) were then glued to a model of the female form.
This unusual combinations of the tiny ladybug with the female form is striking due to the contrast of sizes, shapes and colors. The lady appears to holding a cluster of ladybugs which are flowing out of her hands.
A beautiful portfolio of photos of "The Lady Bug" can be seen at


http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/gabor-fulop-mysterious-ladybug-sculpture

Crazy about Ladybugs? Visit http://www.ladybug-shop.com/ for over 500 unique ladybug gifts!

The Bag of Hope Project

We have a wonderful new shop and neighbor in downtown Milford. This summer Anne Jenkins moved to Milford and opened her art gallery just down the block from the LadyBug Shop. Anne is originally from South Africa and previously had a gallery in Georgia. It was there that she started The Bag of Hope project in December 2008. A group of unskilled women in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, formed a support group for those living with HIV and AIDS, especially the orphaned children. The learned to sew and embroider, tutored by Jenkins’ sister. They produce little fabric landscapes or pictures made from donated handmade and dyed fabric and thread. Each picture is different and charmingly simple. Some depict African life, some are whimsical. Anne then uses these scenes to decorate canvas tote bags. Jenkins has set up a website
http://www.thebagofhope.com/ for the project and sells the bags for $30 each at her gallery.

http://www.annejenkinsart.com/


The group has constructed a community center to provide education, support and material help for the needy. And they run a soup kitchen and feeding program for the little ones. A portion of the money from the selling the bags goes directly to the soup kitchen. The price per bag has been set to cover the cost of the bags and shipping, with the balance of $25 per bag sent back to the group.
The LadyBug Shop is also now carrying these bags. Anne worked with the ladies in South Africa to produce ladybug themed landscapes.

These lovely and inspirational bags can be used for a variety of things – shopping or carrying a laptop computer. And they make wonderful Christmas gifts – inexpensive, handy and a way of helping people.

Ladybug Chocolates for the Holidays

What is small, round, has spots, brings luck and joy – and is delicious? Why ladybugs of course. However, you need to be careful that they are ladybug chocolates and not live ladybugs. We have read that the live ones have a very nasty, bitter taste. (But we have never tested this to see if it is true.)

With the upcoming holiday season, ladybug chocolates are a gift that you may want to consider. Here are a few recipes on the Web to choose from:

Lovely Ladybugs http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/lovely-ladybugs-686050/

Ladybug Truffles http://candy.about.com/od/valentinesdaycandy/r/Lovebug-Truffles.htm
Ladybug M&Ms http://everything-ladybug.com/ladybug-mms.html

And if you don’t have time or want to make your own ladybug chocolates, you can order some from John & Kira’s in Philadelphia. They have beautifully packaged boxes of ladybugs chocolates just for the holiday season. Some of their beautiful ladybug chocolates are shown in the accompanying photo.

And if you want to combine your chocolate ladybugs with other types of ladybug gifts, the LadyBug Shop  has the world’s largest selection from which to choose some. Check out our “Top 20 Holiday Gifts”.

NEW Pink Twilight Ladybug Nightlight by Cloud B

The Twilight Ladybug Nighlight has been a Best Seller and great gift for several years, the Ladybug Shop is now carrying the NEW Pink Twilight Ladybug Nightlight by Cloud B. The adorable bright pink ladybug is a wonderful twist on an already perfect design.

If you are not already familar with the award winning Twilight Ladybug Nightlight, the Twilight Ladybug Nightlight makes bedtime fun and helps ease children’s fear of the dark by projecting a starry night sky onto their bedroom ceiling and walls. The stars and Ladybug shell illuminate in three magical colors, emerald green, ruby red, and sapphire blue, all with the touch of a button, to help children sleep easier. It even has a 45 minute automatic switch off. The Twilight Ladybug features a book to locate the constellations the ladybug projects. It requires 3AAA batteries which are included. The Twilight Ladybug is the perfect sleep companion for children of all ages!

New Items at the LadyBug Shop

Our collection of ladybug gifts, turtle gifts, holdiay gifts and more...is still growing!! Our absolute commitment to finding the most unique and fun gifts for you to give any time of year keeps us "spotting" more and more gifts!

Browse our newest items added to our collection by visiting

New Items or Turtle New Items