Guest Post: Make a Paper & Crystal Beads Butterfly Pin

We are happy to have Maria from Chuy-Creativity.blogspot.com guest posting for us today!  To check out more of Maria’s crafty projects, visit her blog, here: Chuy-Creativity.blogspot.com

I thought it would be great to make a butterfly pin using paper that can also be interchangeable by making two different bodies, to switch depending on what color you want to wear.  I would rate this as an easy project, it can take about two hours to make, and once you make a template for one, you can use it to make more to share or to give as a gift for Mother’s Day.

Supplies:

• SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Bicone Purple Bead Mix
• SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Bicone Pink Bead Mix
• SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Crystal Spacer Beads
• Coil-less Safety Pins – 2 1/4″
• Glitter Wire – 28 gauge
• Core’dinations Fancy Pants Paper Pack
• Viva Decor Glitter Liner
• Mod Podge Dimensional Magic (coming to ConsumerCrafts.com soon!)
• Darice Paper Edging Decorative Craft Scissors
• Liquid Adhesive

Directions:

I started by making the wings.  I used a brown paper bag to cut my three templates; I made the small wings first. You can use a butterfly die cut or fold the paper in half and draw one wing so when you cut the two wings so they are the same even. Once you have one set of wings, use them as a guide to cut two more slightly bigger sets of wings, so you end up with three different sizes.  Take into consideration the size of the pin you are using, you want the wings to fit inside the pin, so I would suggest you take the largest wings and make sure they fit inside the pin before you start cutting from your cardstock.

Next, take the Core’dinations paper of your choice and cut out the butterfly shapes using the templates.

The fun part for me is step three, time to embellish.  I used Viva Décor glitter pens.  Feel free to add the glitter anywhere you want, especially on the top wings, as this is what everyone will see.

Once the glitter is dry, assemble your butterfly wings by running a little bit of liquid or hot glue down the middle of the wings, starting with the largest one. I used Dimensional Magic to glue the wings together and also used it on the top wing to seal the paper and give it a glossy finish.  Once the wings are glued together, set the butterfly aside and proceed to making the two beaded bodies.

Start by cutting about 6 inches of wire then add two of the crystal spacer beads. Fold the wires to make two antennas then simply twist each antenna.

Attach the antenna to  the safety pin by using the ends of the wire and wrapping them around the head of the safety pin.

Now, take about 12 to 14 inches of wire, (adjust amount of wire based on the size of the pin you are using) and string your beads onto the wire and wrap around the top of the safety pin – making sure to align with the antennas.

When done, you can either trim any excess wire or make some swirls to the end of the pin, as shown on the picture below:

Now that you have your wings and your beaded bodies, place the wings inside the safety pin and it’s ready to go! If you would like to make the wings more secure, dab some glue (like E-6000) on the beads and attach to the paper wings.

Wear this pretty butterfly pin any way you want; on your blouse, coat, scarf, hat, purse, anywhere!

This project can also be easily turned into a kid’s craft and perfect for a Mother’s Day gift!