Ladybug Land

I've liked ladybugs since I was a little girl. They are the only insect I would ever touch or allow to crawl on me! But recently I've become a ladybug fanatic! The photo above was taken in my backyard on one of our potted flowers. It was almost as if this little lady was posing for me. She stayed very still and just waited until I was done photographing her. Then my 3 year old daughter came outside to see what I was doing and fell in love with the little ladybug. She named her Mommy and watched her and held her for about 30 minutes. Mommy stayed on that plant for about a week and then one day was gone, hopefully she went to someone else's garden to spread her joy.

Since then I have been learning all about ladybugs, finding ladybug items everywhere I can and every time I go out to the yard my eyes are constantly scanning for little red dots on the plants. My daughter is also fascinated with these gentle little creatures and we are hoping to spread the joy and wonder of ladybugs to you! :)

There are about 5,000 different species of ladybugs in the world!

Ladybugs are a great source of organic pest control. Their favorite food is aphids and one ladybug can eat up to 5,000 aphids in it's lifetime.

One female ladybug can lay over 1,000 eggs in her lifetime! That's a lot of baby ladybugs!!

A baby ladybug is called a larva and does not look like an adult ladybug at all!

As a ladybug grows older, their spots start to fade

Red as a rose, Polka-dot clothes.
Hide-away wings, No bites or stings.
Best of all "bugs," Too small for hugs?

-Miriam Kirby

We have a few little cuties crawling around our backyard. They really seem to like Marigolds and a really pretty pink daisy bush. Pollen is another part of a ladybug's diet, so the more flowers the better!! Here are some flowers that ladybugs love to hang out around...

                           

Caledula           Chives            Cosmo           Dandelion            Dill

                           

Feverfew         Marigold           Statice     Sweet Alyssum   Wild Mustard

Five little ladybugs, climbing on some plants,
Eating the aphids, but not the ants!
The first one said: "Save some aphids for me!"
The second one said: "These are tasty as can be!"
The third one said: "Oh, they're almost gone!"
The fourth one said: "Then it's time to move on!
The fifth one said: "Come on, let's fly!"
So they opened their wings and flew through the sky.

-author unknown

When I first started designing T-shirts and cards at Zazzle.com a prospective customer kindly asked me if I would be willing to customize one of my ladybug designs for her party theme for her little girl. I was more than happy to help out.

The original design called "Pretty Little Lady" is still available and makes a great kids or baby's tee. The adapted greeting card / invitation version that was used by my customer allowed her the flexibility to edit and personalize the card easily at Zazzle.com and fit a wonderful ladybug party theme. In the end she purchased both the cards and the t-shirt for her daughter's birthday.

 

 

Who would have thought that these cute little bugs could make an appearance on Halloween! Well some very talented Zazzle artists have made some real cute Halloween Ladybugs! Check it out!


                Boo Bug Postcard
This adorable design is also available on
t-shirts, coffe mugs and aprons!




           Vampire Bug Invitation Card
This ladybug in disguise is also available on
pins, bags, aprons, ties, stickers, coffee mugs
and shoes!

 

Here are some adorable ladybug costumes for children, 2 legged and 4 legged :)

 

Foam Ladybug Toddlers Halloween Costumes


Foam Ladybug Toddlers Costumes Costume includes: Headpiece and romper

 

Ladybug Costume for Dogs - Dog Costumes

 

LADYBUG PAPER PLATE CRAFT

Supplies needed:

- 2 standard sized paper plates
- red paint
- black paint
- black pom poms or black paint
- wiggly eyes
- popsicle craft sticks

1. Paint the paper plates red.
   
2. When dry, cut one of the paper plates in half and then paint a black "head" on the other.
   
3. Glue the paper plate halves on the whole paper plate to make them look like wings.
   
4. Decorate the wings with the pom poms or black paint, making as many spots as you want!
   
5. Attach the eyes.
   
6. Glue or staple the popsicle stick to the plate so you can make your ladybug fly. Or you could use them as garden stakes at your next party! But remember to bring them back in at night so the dew doesn't ruin them :)
   

LADYBUG STEPPING STONE

You could buy some round stepping stones, paint them red with black spots and place them on your lawn or in your garden to make a bright and colorful addition to your yard!

Ladybugs all dressed in red
Strolling through the flowerbed.
If I were tiny just like you
I'd creep among the flowers too!

-Maria Fleming

I created these ladybug cookies using a recipe from my Taste of Home Baking Book.
It is an easy sugar cookie recipe with icing and then I used some food coloring gel to add color.
I had a lot of fun doing this and my 3 year old daughter thought the ladybug cookies were wonderful!
I was pleased with the outcome.

Simple Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1-1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioner's sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture.
Shape into two 5 inch rolls; wrap each in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
Unwrap dough; cut into 1/4 inch slices.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. (I like to use parchment paper)
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Remove to wire racks to cool.
Makes 3-1/2 dozen.

Icing:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
red food coloring gel
black food coloring gel

Mix ingredients together until smooth.
Divide into two separate bowls and mix black gel with one bowl and red gel with the other until you get the desired shades of red and black.
Then frost the cookies with the red icing.
Using a pastry bag with a round tip, draw the ladybug's head and spots!

TIP:
These sugar cookies are pretty fragile, so use extra care when icing them. I placed them on a plate while icing them so that they would not break.

The ladybug's a beetle.
It's shaped like a pea.
Its colour is a bright red
With lots of spots to see.

Although the name is "ladybug",
Some ladybugs are "men"
So why don't we say "gentleman bug"
Every now and then?

-author unknown

Ladybugs are considered to be a sign of good luck when one lands on you!

Here is my ladybug luck story.
During one of my grocery shopping trips, out of the blue I decided to but some lottery scratch off tickets, hadn't bought any in a while and figured there was some reason why I should get one since the thought suddenly came to mind :) After I
purchased my groceries I went to the scratch off machine and low and behold, they had one dollar ladybug scratch offs!! I bought 5 of them and took them home. My husband and I scratched them all off and one of the tickets was a winner, good for another ticket.
Almost a week later I went back to the grocery store with my kids and after shopping turned in the ticket and got another ladybug scratch off. As we were walking into the parking lot, I had my youngest daughter up in the shopping cart, something landed on her green shirt. I looked down and it was a rather large asian lady bug!!! The girls thought this was great, she watched it crawl around on her for a few seconds. Then the little ladybug flew onto my hand, I bent down to show my oldest daughter and the ladybug crawled onto her finger to say hello and then flew away! We were so excited to see a ladybug after buying the ladybug scratch off so as soon as I got into the car I scratched the ticket and revealed a ladybug that won me 7 dollars! Talk about luck :)

This week our featured product is this beautiful ladybug mousepad by Reflekshins. There are also many other products available at their gallery featuring this design and other ladybug designs!





Previously featured ladybug Zazzle artists:

Ladybug w/ Frame Mouse Pad by Andy2302

KRW Lucky Ladybug Business Card by KRW Business Cards

Novelty Tie with Ladybugs by Neckties

Lady Bug Stamp by Funky Monkey Tees

Ladybug Tie by Fit2BeTied

Lady on Board Ladybug Bumper Sticker by maggie02

Ladybug Magnet by Lil Ink

little LADYbug birthday card by Rican Baby

Ladybug Postcard by creatingmybestlife

Sleeping Ladybug Poster by Hale Grafx

Ladybug Stroll Keds Shoe by Spice Tree Gifts and Apparel

Cute Ladybug Sunbathing on a Sunflower Shirt by MiamMiam

Ladybug Love T-shirt by Nadine Panek

Ladybug Ladybug Keds Shoe by Sweet Rascal

Ladybugz T-shirt by Asyrum

Ladybug Parade Card by Lissame73

Celtic Bug
A great website with a lot of fun ladybug content!

Ladybug Magazine
Wonderful children's magazine filled with stories and poems and beautiful artwork.

Angie's Country Corner @ Zazzle
My Zazzle shop featuring some beautiful and cute ladybug products!

Angie's Country Corner @ Printfection
Find my ladybug photos on coasters and glass cutting boards at this great website!

Ladybug Gift Store
If you like Ladybugs, shop Ladybug Gift Store for the latest in Ladybug Gifts and Ladybug Merchandise for the Holidays, Special Occasions and Ladybug Parties.

Ladybug Graphics
Really cute ladybug graphics that you can use for free! Wide variety to choose from.

Going Buggy!
Great classroom resources for learning with ladybugs. Features activities, poems and books all about ladybugs.

Beautiful ladybug art from Art.com




Check out more Ladybug art from Art.com ...

  

         

     

 

Here you can find some wonderful ladybug checks and what's even better is that you get to personalize them! A must have for any ladybug enthusiast!!


LADYBUGS CHECKBOOK COVER from Check Gallery - $ 19.95