These monarch butterflies look so real, from a distance, you would think they were. We didn’t intend to make so many. We just needed a few for a Life Cycle of a Butterfly project, but we (er, I mean I) got carried away and made about 20 of them! That’s okay, I have lots of ideas on what to do with the extras. When folded in half, and glued on a twig, they make the perfect embellishment for a card. Or take a bundle of twigs with butterflies scattered about for a stunning centerpiece. You can see the other project we’re using these butterflies with by checking the playlist below.
This project is part of our Butterflies and Caterpillars unit. You can see the other videos here.
For this project, I used my Silhouette Cameo digital die cutter. This machine connects to my computer and by using the Silhouette Cameo program, I can either design my own cut files, or purchase and manipulate ones I get from vendors that sell cut files. It’s been an innovative crafting tool that has gotten a lot of use in our homeschool. You can check out all the projects we’ve done using our Silhouette Cameo by checking out this playlist.
For this project, we used the monarch butterfly cut file available from the Silhouette Cameo online store. While I can’t remember the exact one I used, this one is very similar.
We also used Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Sprays. We used Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Barn Door, Wild Honey and Dried Marigold. We used the black spray for the outlined butterfly. We got our Distress Inks and Sprays from Dick Blick.
I also used Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold for the gold details. I love this product because it takes your projects to the next level! Though it’s a spray, I just unscrew the top and dip my paintbrush in to get the paint medium. You do want to mix or shake it first because the shimmer settles to the bottom of the bottle.
I also used correction ink for the white details, but white acrylic paint would work even better.