Bugs O' Love

I decided to be a bit ambitious for my son's very first year giving out Valentines.  I love these opportunities to make cute crafts to give to his little friends.  It seems to make more out of a holiday than just buying the pre-made ones and in the middle of winter when we've all been suffering with darkness and illnesses since we took those cheerful Christmas lights down.  As always, I picked something that, while adorable, took a lot of effort and supplies.  While I was working on these adorable bugs until after midnight last night I kept asking myself: why am I doing this?  My son would probably be just as thrilled giving out Valentines with his favorite cartoon character on them.  I guess I just need a project to do every now and then.  It is sort of like I have brief fits of craftiness followed by long periods of lethargy.  We'll see if I ever venture into the creative-Valentine-business again, but this year I had a great time and love the finished product.  I found these Love Bugs on the website of a woman with the same name as me!  It must have been a sign that this craft was meant for me!  I tweaked them slightly due to the fact that I couldn't find some of the materials she listed and I wanted them to sit on a heart to give them a place for my son to sign his name (aka scribble with a green marker).  I also used some adhesive craft ribbon around the outside edge of the lid to dress them up a bit and hide that black sharpie.
I had posted a tutorial here, but then reading her copyright boilerplate sort of scared me away, so I direct you to the above link if you'd like information on how to make these.
It took me about 4 hours to assemble 20 of these, to give you an idea of how labor-intensive they are.  They were a big hit in the preschool class this morning, and that made the effort worthwhile!  Thanks to the inventor of these adorable bugs - and again, I take NO credit.  Please don't sue me.