Craft TuesD.I.Y with Lisa Lopez: Pet Rocks

Every time we go outside, my son has to pick up as many rocks as he can carry so he can bring them home to add to his rock collection. We decided to bring his rocks to life by turning them into pet rocks with a bit of paint, some googly eyes, and other fun features! Pet rocks may be used as paper weights, magnets, adorable garden decor -- or they may simply be enjoyed as a new pal!

First you will need to go on a hunt for rocks to use for this craft. A couple of things to keep in mind: smooth, polished rocks don't hold paint as well, so select regular, rugged rocks like the ones shown above. Also, plan out what creatures you will be making so you can choose your rocks accordingly. We made a bumble bee, a frog, and a lady bug. Once you collect your rocks, wash them off so that they don't have any dirt on them, then let them air dry.

Materials You Will Need:

• Paints/ brushes

• glue gun

• pipe cleaners

• Felt- I used the harder board felt as well as regular felt. It works better for legs. ie: frog

• fuzzy pom poms

• googly eyes

• scissors

Once your rocks are dry, you can paint them. This is how I made the bumble bee pet rock.

• Paint your rock black, allow to dry.

• Cut strips of yellow (soft) felt for the stripes on the bee. You will want to measure your strips on the rock across horizontally to decide where to cut -- making sure it goes from one end of the rock to the other.

• Glue your stripes onto your rock, ahem, bee.

• Using the harder board felt in white, cut two small wings out. Glue them on the top of the rock on each side.

• Glue your googly eyes onto your bee. You can either glue the eyes to a pom pom first, as I did with the frog, or glue them directly onto the bee. Or you can paint eyes on as well.

• Paint the mouth on, then using your black pipe cleaner, cut 2 small pieces about an inch long for the antennas and glue these on as well. Your kids will be BUZZING about this one!

To make the frog: Paint your rock green, glue on the eyes, and draw a face. Then with your harder board felt, cut the legs. Glue them on. You can paint spots and warts on his back too!

To make the ladybug: Paint your rock red. Then you can either paint black spots on it, or I took red felt, cut it into a circle, then cut the circle in half. Glue small black pom poms to each semi-circle, then glue on the top of the rock. Glue eyes and paint a mouth. Use your pipe cleaner for this as well to make the antennas.

Once dry, you can also glue a magnet to your smaller creatures. Whatever you choose, pet rocks are a fun, inexpensive way to make a plain old rock come to life as a new friend and cherished keepsake!