BUTTERFLY SUNCATCHER TOTSCHOOL CRAFT


Kinley is transforming from a snuggly baby caterpillar to an awesome big girl butterfly right before my very eyes. I can't believe how fast she is growing and changing. It seems like she comes up with new tricks every day. This week she has started "singing." 

I already told you about our obsession with the Frozen soundtrack, right? Well, not only does she swing her arms around and twirl the moment she hears the opening bars of Do You Want To Build A Snowman?, but she also clicks her tongue like a ticking clock at the exact perfect time when Anna is singing about "watching the hours tick by." 


She "sings" along with the radio when we run errands and claps her hands and busts a move when she hears any of her favorite tunes--everything from Pharrell to Blake Shelton to the theme song for Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (sing it with me, mommas--RIDE ALO-ONG.) I may be a tad biased, but I'm pretty sure Kinley is the most fun baby in the history of ever. 

And, not only does she sing, but she now knows a whole bunch of animal sounds (including spitting like a camel,) likes her toenails to be painted, can work her play dough tools like a champ, knows how to make her Dora Power Wheels 4-wheeler go, runs like a track star to the nearest muddy puddle when my head is turned, and gives a million hugs and kisses when she's in trouble because she knows I can never stay mad after all of those. She's so rotten these days, and so. Dang. Cute.

Our suncatcher flowers had finally faded to gray (literally) so I broke out the contact paper and tissue paper squares and got to work making a brand-new, beautiful, big-girl-butterfly window project.

Here's your list of (super cheap) supplies:

Contact paper (Dollar Tree)
Tissue paper, cut into squares (Dollar Tree)
Construction paper
Glue stick
Googly eyes (Dollar Tree)
Pipe cleaner (Dollar Tree)
Scotch tape
Scissors
Markers
Pencil

(Dollar Tree should totally be a sponsor, right? Haha.)



I took advantage of Kinley's nap, and got all of this first part out of the way while she was sleeping. This used to be one of my daycare projects for B Week--instead of just a regular butterfly shape I would make the wings giant letter B's. But, since it is not B Week at our house, I made a new stencil.

I know making your own stencil can seem really hard, and if you want I can upload mine, but I totally think you can do it!

Just fold your paper in half, hamburger style. (One of my elementary school teachers taught me that--hamburger fold is the short and fat fold, hot dog is the long and skinny fold. Easy way to explain to your kiddos, too, huh?)

Draw the body first, then sketch the wings. You don't even have to erase the extra lines because this is just a stencil.

When you are happy with your shape, cut that baby out.


Now, just a little more drawing. You need to figure out how much of the wings you want to be filled with beautiful tissue paper squares and sunshine. Once again, you can go over it and fix it as many times as you need.

And cut that hole out, too.


Voila!


I wanted K to make two beautiful butterflies, so I hamburger-folded two sheets of construction paper, and traced my butterfly pattern on both.


Kinley loves to color, so when she woke up, I handed her a few markers and let her go to town on the backs of her sheets of construction paper.

*You can totally skip this step.



Time to cut out the butterflies! 


I didn't take a picture of the contact paper step because I was too busy trying to get Kinley to stop stepping on it/crunching it up in her tiny, yet mighty, baby fist. 

Just cut a piece of contact paper a little bigger than what you need, peel off the backing, and stick your butterfly pretty side up on it. Trim off the excess and your ready to stick on tissue paper.


Kin's favorite part was making it rain--tissue paper that is--all over the family room.



Almost done...


Cut your pipe cleaner in half, then fold each half into a "v" and curl the two ends around a crayon or pencil to make the butterfly's antennae. I just stuck ours to the back of our butterfly heads with Scotch tape.

Break out the glue stick and attach the googly eyes, too.

Ta-da! :)


We made these on the patio door so Kinley could reach them better without standing on a chair, but they are living in the kitchen now where the flowers used to be.


Now we just need the sun to come out so we can catch it in their wings!

Kinley just woke up so it's time for me to sign off and go read The Very Hungry Caterpillar for the millionth time this week :)


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