Paper Butterfly Canvas

I made one of these a couple of years ago when I was decorating my twin girls room before their arrival. Recently one of my closest friends, who is about to have her first baby, saw it and asked if I would make one for her little girls nursery. She wanted pinks & purples, so this is the one I have made for her.
It is really easy to make, you don't have to be good at crafts or have all the gear, and it's a really beautiful and original piece of art for your little girls room. It's great as a gift, I guarantee nobody else will be turning up at the birthday or baby shower with the same thing, and really inexpensive to make.


You will need:

• x1 Canvas Frame in the size you want. (I used a 40cm x 50cm sized canvas)
• A range of craft/scrapbooking paper (try to choose a colour theme and work around that)
• Double sided tape
• Scissors
• Cardboard (small piece for making a stencil)

Start by finding a picture of a butterfly you like, online or in a book/magazine. It can be whatever size you want - depending on how many butterflies you want on your canvas. Mine were about 6cm x 8cm. 

Once you have found a picture, cut it out and trace around it with a pen or pencil onto your piece of cardboard. Cut the cardboard butterfly out and there is your stencil.

Using your stencil, trace around it onto your different craft papers, and cut out each butterfly so you have a pile of paper butterflies. I cut about 5 butterflies out of each paper so I had a good range of patterns/colours to work with.

Start placing your butterflies onto your canvas (not sticking them down yet) to see what kind of pattern/colour combination you think works, and to see where each one should be placed, how many, how far apart etc. 

Once you are happy with your placement, cut small strips of double sided tape and stick one side onto the back of the butterflies body. Unpeel the other side of the tape and stick the middle of your butterfly to your canvas. Slightly fold the wings forward towards you so it has a 3D effect. Continue with the rest of your butterflies. 

Hang it on the wall and check they are all lined up and even - it is harder to peel them off and re-stick them back down the longer you leave it.