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Colorful Butterfly Craft from Recycled Magazine Pages

August 12, 2014 by OneMommy

Do the magazines and junk mail pile up on the table at your house?   They sure do here!

Before you toss out those magazines, use a few pages to create your very own colorful butterflies from magazines.

This  magazine butterfly craft is one of our favorite recycled crafts for kids. 

butterfly craft made from recycled magazines

 

This simple butterfly craft is sure to brighten up any room.  Just attach a string to the pipe cleaner and hang it in the window or from a door frame. 

It’s one of our favorite kids crafts for spring.

Magazine Butterfly Craft

Materials Needed:

  • Old Magazines
  • Pipe Cleaners
  • Scissors

Begin by flipping through your magazines and looking for pages that are full of color.  Advertisments are great for this.

You will need 2 magazine pages for each butterfly you plan to make.  

For your top wing you will need to make a square with one of your magazine pages. 

Start by folding the paper diagonally, making sure the sides line up.  Cut off the extra portion.  

folding magazine pages to make a butterfly

Once you’ve cut off the extra, unfold your square.

Starting at one corner of the square, fold the paper accordion-style.  Make each fold approximately 1/2 inch wide.  Children under 5 may need help with this part!

how to make a butterfly from magazine pages

Next, you will make the butterfly’s bottom wing.

Take your second magazine page and fold it in half length-wise. 

Use scissors to round off the corners. 

Unfold your magazine page.  It should look like the picture below.  

recycled craft idea for kids

Once again you will fold the page accordion-style.  This time start at the bottom, making each fold 1/2 inch wide as you work towards the top of the page.  

How to Make a Butterfly Out of Paper

Once your two pages are cut and folded, it’s time to put them together.

Place the 2 pages together and wrap a pipe cleaner around both wings.  The larger wings should be on top.

Twist your pipe cleaner tightly to hold the butterfly together.  

The top portion of the pipe cleaner will become antennae.  

butterfly craft

 

Spring is the perfect time for butterflies.

Once you have made a few of these colorful crafts with your child, check out our super simple DIY butterfly feeder.   It’s a fun way to encourage real butterflies to visit.

butterfly craft for kids using recycled magazines

 

This butterfly craft from magazine pages is perfect for brightening up the house this spring.

If you have a little girl, check out this butterfly garland idea you can make with your butterflies.  It’s an adorable decoration for a young girl’s room!

 

You’ll also want to check out these ideas:

 

Straw Weaving -- weaving craftsimple duct tape craft: make your own water bottle holder!

recycled water bottle craft -- make a fish from a water bottle

 

 

Filed Under: Kids Crafts Tagged With: recycled craft

Comments

  1. ChristyM says

    August 12, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    So simple and so pretty at the same time!

  2. Emma @ P is for Preschooler says

    August 14, 2014 at 9:11 am

    Fun idea! I loved the tutorial – you explained it perfectly!

    • OneMommy says

      August 15, 2014 at 3:04 pm

      Thank you — my daughter wants to make a bunch now to decorate her room with! ๐Ÿ˜‰

  3. Angelia says

    August 14, 2014 at 10:44 pm

    Lovely Idea! Will schedule it for sharing. : ) I did something on butterflies too. Also linked up my heartful of ideas- one of which I used my child’s process based art as DIY envelopes. Thanks for sharing!

  4. Anna @ family living on a budget says

    August 15, 2014 at 1:57 pm

    This is so fun and a great way to recycle!

  5. Chris Carter says

    August 18, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    That is SO creative!!! I just LOVE it!!! I am going to share this with my girl after school today… she would absolutely want to make these!!!

    • OneMommy says

      August 25, 2014 at 6:11 pm

      I hope she had fun making butterflies! ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. The Natural Homeschool says

    August 18, 2014 at 10:30 pm

    This is such an awesomely fun activity! Thank you for sharing your post with The Natural Homeschool and The Life of Jennifer Dawn Linky Party. ๐Ÿ™‚ See you next Wednesday! ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. Keerti says

    August 19, 2014 at 12:58 am

    Very nice idea. I think I have added a link incorrectly ( not abt scrap paper) and now don’t know how to delete it. Sorry about that.

    Keerti

    • OneMommy says

      August 19, 2014 at 8:31 am

      Happens to me when I link places sometimes — I’ll see if I can sort it out! ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Keerti says

        August 22, 2014 at 4:42 am

        I hope the second one qualifies. I liked this idea of butterfly a lot and so have linked it today in my site.

  8. Create With Joy says

    August 24, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    I love your project!
    Congratulations – you are one of our Featured Guests at Inspire Me Monday – Week 138 at Create With Joy! ๐Ÿ™‚

    • OneMommy says

      August 25, 2014 at 6:07 pm

      Thank you for featuring our butterfly craft!

Trackbacks

  1. Nature-inspired crafts for kids - Gift of Curiosity says:
    August 21, 2014 at 12:00 am

    […] Butterfly craft made from magazine pages from Theres Just One Mommy […]

  2. 20 Beautiful Butterfly Crafts for Kids | About Family Crafts says:
    May 14, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    […] – Butterflies Made from Magazines from There’s Just One […]

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