Honey Bee Jar

How to Make

1. Unscrew the lid from the jar. Mix some brown paint with yellow to make a dark honey colour then sponge it over the lid and leave to dry. Add another layer of paint if you need to.
2. Wrap some strips of double-sided tape around a glass jar; it doesn’t need to be completely covered in tape, you can leave 1cm or so between each strip. Undo several metres of cotton string, keeping it attached to the reel. Peel away the first backing strip from the tape then start turning the jar and winding the string around the outside. Keep winding the string to cover the car jar, peeling off the backing tape as you go round.
3. Lightly paint or sponge paint over the string to highlight the texture.
4. To make a bee, shape some yellow Fimo into a 15mm diameter ball then roll it with your fingers into an oval. Flatten some black Fimo with a rolling pin to 2mm deep then cut into thin strips with a craft knife. Carefully lift 3 strips and place over the body, leaving yellow stripes showing between each strip. Gently press the strips down then trim the ends so they neatly fit around the body.
5. Shape a small black head and press it onto the body. Shape wings from white Fimo, add a pattern with the flat end of a modelling tool or a strip of card, then press the wings onto the body. Roll 2 tiny white eyes, press onto the head then make holes in the middles with a cocktail stick. Make more Fimo bees in the same way.
6. To make flowers, shape 5 evenly-sized (approx 1cm diameter) Fimo balls, Flatten the balls into circles then place them together so they overlap in a horseshoe U shape. Gently bring the 2 end circles together forming the flower shape. Press a tiny circle into the middle of the flower then add a dotted pattern with a cocktail stick. Curl up the petals.
7. Place the bees and flowers onto a baking tray or tile. Bake in an oven for 30 minutes at 110oC, following the instructions on packaging. Allow Fimo to cool before handling. Turn the bees over and glue 2 short pieces of thread on the underside of the head for antennae.
8. Fix the bees and flowers onto the jar with a strong adhesive or a glue gun.

Top Tip

For making the FImo bees, wipe your fingers to keep them clean when you use different FIMO colours, so the black doesn't transfer onto the yellow or white.