Monday Makings: DIY Butterfly Garland

Today, I'm going to share with you how to make a quick, easy decoration that's perfect for spring time! You could easily make these butterflies for anything, really. But I chose to make a garland because we now live in our first multi-level house, and I love making garlands to put on the stair rail!

Materials needed:
Paper (scrapbook, wrapping paper, or anything else you choose to use)
Wire or pipe cleaners
Yarn
Tracing materials (square and circle, roughly the same size)

Step one: On the back of your paper, trace your template. You will need a square and a circle that are roughly the same size. I used a coaster and a plastic cup. Lay them out as indicated in the picture below. Mine were roughly 2.5 inches across, but the size really doesn't matter. If you want bigger butterflies, trace a bigger template.

Step two: Cut out the outlined shape. I find it easiest to do all of my tracing, followed by all of my cutting, rather than doing one butterfly at a time.

Step three: Take each butterfly, and fold it accordian-style, starting from the point of the square, all the way to the end of the circle.

They should look like this when they're done. (Does anyone else think they look like weird potato chips?)

Step four: Wrap your wire or pipe cleaner around the middle of your folded butterfly and twist to secure. You could also use a piece of string for this step, but I prefer something bendable, so I can make curly antennae. Once you have secured your wire, fan out the wings of your butterfly.

Step five: Once you have made the desired number of butterflies, thread some yarn through the back of the wire wrapped around your butterfly. I also recommend securing the yarn to the wing tips of your butterfly with a dot of hot glue. Otherwise, you'll have very floppy butterflies. 

Step six: Hang it up and admire!