I made these butterflies for our playroom, but they would also look sweet in a nursery or girl’s bedroom. Hanging from a clothesline and dangling by thread, they gently move from the air conditioning vent close by. The sun shines through their wax paper wings and the best part? They will never fly away!
I discovered this fun and easy craft while flipping through a magazine my daughter brought home from preschool. (See the original craft at Parent & Child.) My girls go crazy when they see real butterflies outside, so this craft was bound to be a crowd pleaser.
Melted Crayon Butterflies
Materials:
crayons
wax paper
iron
old towel to protect ironing board or table
Ask your child to pick out his or her favorite crayon colors. Shred the crayon or part of the crayon with a cheese grater. (Parent & Child suggests using a pencil sharpener but that didn’t work for me.) Pour crayon shavings on wax paper. Lay another piece of wax paper on top. (Be sure to put an old towel under project.)
Iron the wax paper and watch as the crayon melts. It looks really awesome! We experimented with mixing colors. (Some looked pretty together but if you heat more than one color for too long, you end up with brown!)
After wax paper cools, trace a butterfly or cut out a butterfly free hand. I used a cardboard butterfly that we had bought at Michael’s as a template. (Those are the butterflies that are colored with markers, below.) You can also download a butterfly template here. With a needle, thread the top of the butterfly and tie a knot to give it a string to hang from.
We have our butterflies hanging from butcher’s twine strung across the playroom. A close line would work, too. And you have butterflies that you never have to chase!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I love this idea. I’m thinking about creating letters that spell out the names of my kids. Endless ideas!