Second Chance Tuesday - Making Paper Butterflies

Today I am joining Jillian of Bella Rosa Antiques for Second Chance Tuesday... this is where we get a chance to re-run a favorite post or in my case, a fun tutorial.

Here is my post on how to make paper butterflies. This time of year would be great to add them as gift tags to your presents:

Thank you for joining me in making this very pretty paper butterfly. This is my very first tutorial, so I hope you will bear with me as I pass along this paper crafting that I learned this summer. The one below is the smaller of the two sizes that I have made and the one we will be making today. I'm sure you can adjust the templates to any size you prefer. Here is the larger or medium size that I learned to make a few weeks ago. I have it in a bookcase to show you some of the ways they can be used as decorations.

...and here is the small version I made when I got home - as you can see this one doesn't have a "body" yet! He is kind of temporary right now (he may end up as a package tie!)

Okay, now this is not in the place it should be but since I had forgotten it I decided it needed to go in here! I am just goofy that way! I used a light black paper for the body and the template (which looks like an exclamation mark!) can be used for both sizes of butterfly. Here the template is just on top of the paper I've not cut it out yet. The size is 2 1/8" long and about an inch wide at the "head" and an inch wide for the rest of it until it narrows down at the bottom.

Also, here is a picture of the fastener I used. For the larger butterfly I used a twist tie (the kind that come with plastic bags) and for the small one I used floral wire that I bought at Wal-Mart for $2.00 for a large amount of wire. The twist tie is 5" long and the floral wire I cut to 6" to give me some room to cut it later. Wal-Mart also sells thicker floral wire in packages for $.69. I may try that next time.

Here are some ideas for what kind of paper you want to use. The first butterfly (in the bookcase) was made from a stiff gift wrap and it was harder to fold then just regular magazine pages. I chose the magazine called New Jersey Lifestyle for some colorful pages to work with.

I liked the colors in the Cezanne picture and I used it for the top wings of the butterfly.
For the bottom, I liked the bedspread that had some brownish reds in it that I thought would go well with the top wings.

I put out the templates for the small butterfly to show you how you will cut them to use to trace them onto your paper. The top wings are 4 1/4" X 4 1/4" square. The bottom is quite curvy but the dimensions are 3" from the inside curve to the rounded bottom and it is 6" from wingtip to wingtip.

The dimensions for the larger are: 5 7/8" X 5 7/8" square and 3 7/8" from the inside curve to the rounded bottom and it is 7 1/2" from wing tip to wing tip.

Here is a list of the supplies that you will need: floral wire or twist ties, wire cutters, white glue,

scissors, pencil and a ruler.

I've cut out the small square that I will need for the top wings.

...and the curvy one I will need for the bottom part of the wings.

I started folding at one of the corners that I thought would show the best of the colors in the square. (it does matter! folding it in a different corner may give a very different color to the wings.)
Just fold in the normal accordion fold (just like we used to do with paper fans in school!) keeping them as narrow as you can.

...the narrower the better!

Keep going until the whole square is folded.




Pick up with you fingers and thumb and find the middle of the wing and gently start to spread the sides apart.

Start folding the bottom at the curved bottom and, again, make the folds as narrow and small as you can get them.

Now that you have the top and the bottom folded put them together and use the twist tie or the floral wire to wire them together. Find the middle of both pieces.



It should be easier now to (gently) spread the "fans" apart and you are beginning to see the butterfly appear!


It is not necessary, but I like to use white glue to hold the top wings to the bottom wings and to glue the bottom center piece together (it helps to spread the butterfly out as much as possible to get the best effect.)

Gluing the bottom center together

glue the top wings to the bottom


...on each side

The finished butterfly with the body glued in place and a change from the twist tie I originally used to the floral wire - - it gives the butterfly a more fragile look.


PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE SOME IDEAS ON USES FOR THIS PRETTY PAPER BUTTERFLY!

.
...and here it is as it might look as a package tie!



...or as wall decor.


This is the original butterfly that was made with gift wrap as it might look also as a package tie.


I really hope you enjoyed working with me on these paper butterflies - they are fun and easy to make and a fun project to do with older children on a rainy day! The paper easily forgives mistakes that may be made so they are almost foolproof!