eco butterfly tutorial

The other night as I was picking up an empty toilet roll that someone left on the bathroom counter, I had a thought. . .

. . .I bet I could make this into a butterfly!

I know you've probably had that same thought especially if you also suffer from 
"butterflies on the brain"
from planning a butterfly theme for your kiddos.


Here's what you need:

1 toilet roll
scissors or a rotary cutter and mat
glue
tiny clothes pins


 What to do:

 Squash the toilet roll flat.

Toilet rolls are 4" long so cut the roll into:

four 7/8" strips
one 3/8" strip
one 1/8" strip

Snip the 1/8" strip on the two folds to make two antennae. 

Now play around with the pieces...



And look what happens when you switch the forewing with the hindwing.


or


or


And then when you get a very creative 9 year old involved, you get this...


I think I'll just let her come up with all of the ideas from now on ;o)


So when you get the bits into a shape that you are happy with glue them together starting with the forewings and hindwings and hold them together with the tiny clothes pegs.



Then glue them to the body, centering the body piece.



And finally glue on the antennae.

You could paint them bright colours or leave them plain. We tied a bit of thread to one and hung it at our front door.

This is great activity to go with teaching children about different shaped wings.
Have fun!
xoxo
~ joey ~

PS.  If you get a chance, please visit me over at my new blog Creative Themes for learning and play.   There's lots more butterfly inspiration there!


Featured on:
 The Crafty Crow
  Shared with:
and Frontier Dreams  - Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on} and

6 comments:

  1. I love this craft. Simple, and yet beautiful.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cris,
      Yes it's amazing what can "emerge" from a toilet roll! ;o)
      ~ joey ~

      Delete
  2. You're so creative! Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this! They turned out so lovely. I can imagine my kids would love painting them too- thanks for the terrific idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Taisa!
      I'd love to see some made with white rolls painted with watercolours! I know your kids would do a fantastic job!
      ~ joey ~

      Delete

I really enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas about the posts that I write here. It's nice to just say hi too!
~ joey ~