Butterfly
40 min + drying · $5-10 · Medium
Painted cardboard wings on black sweats: the garden's prettiest visitor.
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You need
- Large cardboard for wings, 1 sheet about 3x2 feet (make: from a shipping box)
- Acrylic paint set, 1 (buy: craft store)
- Black sweatsuit, 1 set (own, or buy: clothing store)
- Elastic for wing straps, about 2 feet (buy: craft store)
- Headband, 1 (buy: dollar store, or use your own)
- Pipe cleaners for antennae, 2 (buy: craft store)
- Tape, 1 roll
- Scissors, 1 pair
Steps
- Buy the paint, elastic, headband, and pipe cleaners. Pull black sweats from the closet.
- Draw ONE wing on paper first, cut it out, and trace it flipped for the second, symmetric wings are the whole butterfly illusion. Cut two big wing shapes from the cardboard with the scissors following the template.
- Paint both wings with bright patterns and let them dry flat.
- Tape elastic loops to the back of each wing for the arms.
- Bend pipe cleaners into antennae and tape them to the headband.
- Safety: keep wing edges away from doorways; turn sideways to pass through.
- Wear the wings over the black sweats with the antennae headband.
- Optional pro finish: outline the wing patterns with glitter glue after the paint dries. The glitter edge catches light and photographs like real wing scales.
- Optional pro finish: outline the wing patterns with glitter glue after the paint dries. The glitter edge catches light and photographs like real wing scales.
Common questions
- How big should butterfly wings be?
- Wingtip to wingtip about as wide as the wearer's arm span. Bigger looks majestic in photos but will not fit through doorways, turn sideways.
- How do you attach wings so they stay up?
- Tape two elastic loops to the back of each wing and slip arms through like a backpack. Elastic, not ribbon, it flexes when they move.
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