How to Make Dragonfly Wings from a Tea Bag

For an upcoming show, I want to create oversized dragonflies.

My first challenge is to make the wings using un-steeped (white) tea bags. I want the wings to have a translucent look so you can see through them but crispy and brittle, not flexible like plastic.

I've tried many products that looked like they had promise. You can see some of the bottles:

None of these gave me the results I wanted.

All of the waterbased products looked like plastic, except for the hide glue (the brown bottle). It gave me the perfect result but it is a yellowish product so it's perfect for the cicada wings.

What Else Can You Make with a Tea Bag?

Dragonfly wings are just one of the unexpected things I've made with used tea bags. I also use them as the starting point for small pieces of mixed-media art, adding images, stitching, color, and texture.

In my Snippets Tea Bag Art online course, I show you how to explore these possibilities and make your own original art using tea bags.

After a lot of experimenting, I chose to use Super Glue, cyanoacrylate for the dragonfly wings. It's thin, dries quick, and gives me the almost shiny, translucent look I want,
Disclaimer: Super Glue is POWERFUL! It smells terrible and dries fast. Use proper ventilation. Wear gloves so you don’t glue your fingers to something or to other fingers!

Dragonfly on a branch

Here's a short video about my process of using tea bags to make dragonfly wings.

Do you have a favorite technique for making insect wings? I would love to know how you're making them. Just write your ideas below.