i saw this craft after the years of different butterfly punch art and i was finally ready.
i had pictures of annie painting the paper but they have disappeared.
the first step is to watercolor paint on paper.
paint all over with pattern or with out....less water makes for brighter colored paint.
and let it dry.
then punch out as many butterflies as you can.
i bought this martha stewart butterfly punch at joann's.
they are not cheap but it was on sale and they do have 40% off coupons quite often.
and THAT punch is really cool.
VERY easy to use!
it's in two pieces so you can punch out from any part of the paper not just on the edge.
VERY COOL.
i get why it costs more than the other brands....quality.
it's martha! what would you expect?
we used 10x10 canvases also from joann's....i wished i had bigger canvases....like 20 x 20 would have been great!
the girls painted them with acrylic paint.
it was fine to have the streaks in the paint....i liked it.
when the paint was dry they plugged in their glue guns and got to work with a pile of colorful butterflies.
we bent them in the middle and put a tiny dot of hot glue in the center of the back of the butterfly.
i couldn't love it more.
it's so pretty.
talby's was turquoise.....annie wanted turquoise....there were tears....sigh.
.......................H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S..........................
annie's was yellow.
much to her disappointment.
but still lovely and sunny.
i wanted to make 10 of them.
for me.
i love this.
you should make one too.
your kids will be very proud of themselves for making REAL art for the walls.
...................................................................
my kids get out of school today.
i am not ready for that.
i AM ready for....
sleeping in.
swimming.
sun tans.
lightning bugs.
watermelon.
iced coffee.
flip flops for 3 months.
popsicles.
bike rides.
sonic happy hour.
sunshine.
vacation.
but just hope that i can handle being a full time mommy again.
i have had all these quiet days since september...and now that is long gone.
adjustment to summer is hard.
but there is no going back.
just gotta jump in with both feet.
give myself a pep talk.....
YOU CAN DO IT.....BE STRONG.....it's only 3 MONTHS....MAKE IT FUN.....GO MEG!....
you're good enough you're smart enough.....
i hope that works.
we need to make our summer list 2011.
that always cheers me up.
Love it! I might over to borrow that punch - would look cute in London's room or my bathroom. Great ideas you keep finding and sharing. Hope to see you around some time.
Posted by: Jenn Thomas | May 26, 2011 at 07:51 AM
I'll be stealing this idea to use with my girl guides in the UK - they will love it!
Posted by: Amy | May 26, 2011 at 09:36 AM
love this - filing it away in our summer to do pile.
on another note, thanks to you, we (as in my awesome husband) made the watermelon shark today for my son's graduation from prek. it was the hit of the school picnic and according to my hus, it was pretty easy. i had the easy part, placing the gummies in mouth!
thank you!
(if i could figure out how to share the pic with you, i would LOL). but, it's so darn cute!
Posted by: erica | May 26, 2011 at 11:41 AM
Hey Meg....I love this project and went and bought one of those martha punches on ebay. Living in a small town and good ways away from any store that has crafting items. I can't wait for me and Lexi to make our summer list also. Thanks for sharing all your great ideas!
Posted by: Beth | May 26, 2011 at 12:39 PM
Where do you put all the older artwork? Things like this craft are obviously nothing you could ever part with.
Posted by: Phoenix_Rising | May 26, 2011 at 01:46 PM
my favorite craft yet!
Posted by: sarah | May 26, 2011 at 02:03 PM
Meg -
I haven't left a comment in awhile; shame on me.
This here is your official invitation to come do Craft Thursday with my kids, each Thursday this summer. I can't imagine the flight would be too bad from AZ to KS... I could have you home by dinner. ;)
My favorite thing about this project?!? Remembering all of the projects that have come before it - the kids have grown (not just vertically, but also skillfully!)
Your summer posts are my all-time favorite!!
Posted by: Jaime A. | May 26, 2011 at 02:47 PM
I love the butterfly artwork. I went today to Michael and was able to use coupons and some of their bonus coupons to get the supplies. I am anxious to do it, but I think that I will wait till I can have a mother daughter day, and my husband and son go do some boy stuff. A friend of mine loves butterfly so we may make one for her as well. Thanks so much for sharing!
Posted by: Julie | May 26, 2011 at 08:30 PM
This project is so cool... I love it and def want to try it this summer and speaking of summer. Our just started this morning and I think I"m already going crazy. Oh boy I'll focus on the good like the list you made above.
xo Trina
Posted by: Trina McNeilly | May 27, 2011 at 08:10 AM
Gorgeous!! Is that scrapbook paper? My kids would LOVE to do this.
Posted by: Crystal | May 27, 2011 at 08:57 AM
Oops, never mind. I see it now. :)
Posted by: Crystal | May 27, 2011 at 08:58 AM
Those are GORGEOUS!!! Love them!! And love yellow. :)
Posted by: Jaime | May 27, 2011 at 11:53 AM
LOVE THIS SO MUCH! And yellow is soo cute! I think we will do this with a funky green color. Thanks for the idea and the daily giggle. I much enjoy reading your blog.
Posted by: Cindy | May 27, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Absolutely beautiful!! I cannot wait to make one of my own, and have each of my kids make one too (doing the happy dance in my seat right now!)
Thanks so much for sharing!
www.bethhorn73.blogspot.com
Posted by: www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmlGCOwwabE1fYswWy2kEMtGAD9tIxZvUI | May 27, 2011 at 11:15 PM
i never comment, but i always read. and i just wanted to thank you for the smiles... i always leave your page with a smile on my face.
Posted by: Jennifer Lundqvist | May 28, 2011 at 03:24 AM
I have been a lurker for far too long on your blog and have never left a comment, even though I love many of your posts/ideas. I LOVE this artwork and have included it on my project to-do list! Fantastic! :-)
Posted by: Iris | May 28, 2011 at 11:24 AM
I came across your blog using stumbleupon...and let me say how inspired I am! First of all, this craft is fantastic and I think I will have to plan to do it with my step daughter next weekend! Secondly, you are a beautiful woman with a beautiful heart and beautiful kids. May God's blessings continue to pour into your house and life - and thank you for the inspiration and motivation to strive for a little more today :)
Posted by: Sarah | May 29, 2011 at 04:35 PM
We absolutly loved this craft.
All my kids except the teenage boy made one, I loved it so much I made one myself.
Thanks for a great blog.
Posted by: Denine | May 30, 2011 at 02:08 PM
Beautiful crafts. Great going excitement. I was also a keen planner of art and crafts during my school life. Hope Those days can come back once again in my life.
Posted by: hire a web programmer | May 31, 2011 at 02:08 AM
This looks so fun! I am making one this week with my niece. Michael's has all the supplies on sale this week too. Seems like it was meant to be. I think I am most excited about having one to hang in our bedroom. (The canvas comes in a two pack, YAY!) Very exciting! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Blaire | May 31, 2011 at 04:05 PM
That's an excellent craft! I might have to do that with my nieces... and nephew - hmm... is there an insect punch too?
What kind of paper did you use?
Posted by: Elaan | June 02, 2011 at 09:15 AM
what a great idea!!!! I bought all the supplies this week and am starting the project now!! how fun! the only thing i've been having trouble with so far is the water colors. what brand did you use? because the color ones i have will hardly come out on the paper!! i think they are crayola. please help and let me know what watercolors are best for this project!!
Posted by: Faith | June 05, 2011 at 04:39 PM
This craft idea is fantastic! And looks like your girls enjoyed it also.
Posted by: Carolyn | June 07, 2011 at 10:36 PM
This is such a fun project! I saw it over here last week and just knew my 4 year old would love it too. Just posted about it today, with links here:
http://createdwithlove.typepad.com/created-with-love/2011/06/half-term.html
Posted by: Carin | June 09, 2011 at 11:10 AM
Nice
Posted by: ghada | June 11, 2011 at 07:08 AM
PERFECT rainy day craft for my girls, THANKS!
Posted by: Gina | June 15, 2011 at 01:27 PM
The butterflies look fantastic!
Posted by: Carolyn | June 15, 2011 at 08:23 PM
So fun!
And yeah, mine have been out 2 weeks and I'm still not ready.
Posted by: Amy | She Wears Many Hats | June 24, 2011 at 05:28 PM
I was fully inspired by this project. If you'd like to take a look at what we'd come up with you can find it here: http://katandcompany.net/2011/06/28/craft-night-collage-disks/
Thank you for the inspiration. I love Craft Thursdays.
Posted by: Katrina | June 28, 2011 at 10:53 PM
This is so cute. I've been looking for some inexpensive and cute artwork for my daughter's room. We may give this a try. Thanks for the idea.
Posted by: Karen | July 22, 2011 at 09:23 AM
Meg, my kids and I did this craft today and they LOVED it. Turned out great and we sort of, um, have two canvasses that look like total copy-cats of yours! (ie: one is turquoise and one is yellow, the third one is royal blue). Thank you for posting this blog! Can't wait to make more art with the kiddos.
Posted by: Julie Hickey | July 26, 2011 at 03:40 PM
My daughter will love this! This is so much fun and so pretty. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Abel | July 27, 2011 at 12:14 AM
Those are beautiful!
Posted by: Beth | August 31, 2011 at 02:11 PM
This is beautiful! Love it!
Posted by: Krista from The Playdate Crashers Podcast | September 13, 2011 at 01:45 PM
We're making this soon. We got the Martha Stewart stamper and the paint at Michael's last week using our 40% off coupons. This week we'll get the canvas. Thanks for the idea. :)
Posted by: Thriftymommy | September 25, 2011 at 04:35 PM
Amazing butterfly tutorial. Blog is very informative and useful. I like it. I never found a great and amazing tutorial regarding butterflies.
Posted by: שיווק באינטרנט | October 03, 2011 at 08:27 AM
creative!
http://fancyclothesanddirtylaundry.blogspot.com/
Posted by: JM | December 04, 2011 at 09:25 PM
I love it! It's so adorable artwork with much colorful ideas.
It make me get some inspiration ^__^
Thanks for sharing...
Posted by: Perkey | December 23, 2011 at 10:23 AM
I really love the artwork. I think doing this artwork with my kid's will be a nice bonding with them.
Posted by: kids flip flops | January 05, 2012 at 05:42 AM
Well, it's early January and I have just found this artwork...it made me think of summer and I had a huge smile on my face! How beautiful and inspiring.
Posted by: Gems | January 05, 2012 at 09:02 PM