SIMPLE PLEASURES on THURSDAY

To borrow from a popular commercial while making a pitcher of Crystal Lite's Raspberry Ice:

Preparation: minutes

Taste: yummy good!

On a sweltering summer day: priceless! If you would like to enjoy more SIMPLE PLEASURES please see our hostess Dayle at A Collection of This and That.

OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY

Last Thursday, six of my gal pals and I went to a camp meeting in So. Seaville, NJ. It was very, very hot. . .last Thursday was. . .and the camp meeting is. . .OPEN AIR! We walked around the grounds for awhile before the service started and looked at all the very cute homes and how they've been decorated.

A picture of the tabernacle.

A cute bungalow with a friendly sign atop their door!

This home belongs to one of our friends who offered us a tour of the house. The rooms are very small, in fact, we went in single file through the rooms! Very cute though!

The houses with balloons meant that they were open for tours. I really liked this one painted a pretty pink!

We were offered lemonade and cookies by the Ladies Auxiliary.

Left to right, Pat, Peggy, Pearl, Cheryl and Gladys (Marion not in the picture).

It is always a treat to be with friends and this day was no exception. We had a good time and a delicious dinner, too! If you would like to see more OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY posts, please visit our hostess, Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer.

SIMPLE PLEASURES

A Simple Pleasure for me is my hot cup of tea and my bible lesson for Wednesday night bible study. Anyone can join in the fun of SIMPLE PLEASURES on Thursday by visiting my friend Dayle at
A Collection of This and That.

CRAFTING WITH PAPER - BUTTERFLIES - TUTORIAL

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!

TUTORIAL ON PAPERCRAFT BUTTERFLIES

I will be showing how to make these very pretty paper butterflies in my next post. Stay tuned!

OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY - UPDATE - FLOWERS - TREES

. . .and here comes the Crepe Myrtle just starting to bloom and it is at least six weeks ahead of schedule this year. I haven't seen this tree in bloom before the end of August or the beginning of September since I planted it several years ago

I've had this little praying angel in my garden for about 10 years now and in many different spots but I like her now among the Astible plants.

I promised to show the Hydrangea in full bloom and here it is. . .beautiful yes?

I also wanted to give an update on the flowers and plants in the front of my house - they are doing so well this year despite the almost drought we are experiencing this summer. I do have an in-ground sprinkler system that really helps keep them looking their best.
Also the window box that I planted earlier this summer is doing well despite the heat factor - heat wave after heat wave have been with us since the beginning of June - we have had more than 25 days of 90 degrees or above.
If you enjoy seeing outdoor scenes please see our hostess for OUTDOOR WEDNESDAYS at Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer

MORE THINGS I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION!

Something else we did was go to the parade in Fairfax, VA on Saturday the day before the 4th. My granddaughter, K. Ann is posing with the flag and this picture is a sweet reminder of the good times we had during my visit. Her daddy (with video camera) and I found a shady spot on top of a hill to watch the parade while she and her mom went to the street level to view the parade. It was very hot! Well, you can't have a parade without the American flag and here was a very large floating balloon depicting our flag. It was great to see!

We even saw some Bolivian dancers who took part and danced their way up the street. Did I mention how hot it was?

A cute balloon octopus floated by...

And - Mr. Sun!

What would a parade be without marching bands (below), firetrucks, clowns, nominees running for political office and crowds of cheering people? We saw them all and had a great time. The 4th would not be the 4th to me without them all!