The Butterfly Project..

I had mentioned the butterflies would be taking flight, and while it took a bit longer than I wanted for them to take off, they have.
Flight took off a while ago actually, but with all of this moving fun, it took me even longer to get to this post. :)
The first step is to find an outline to use for tracing purposes and print it off in various sizes to get you different sized butterflies.
I used a FREE PhotoShop brush, found here.
I stamped it down on my project sheet, then stroked the outline to get my lines. I printed it off and used one of my favorite tricks to get the lines on to the wood.
You pencil in a wide line over the printed line (sloppiness is appreciated in this step :D).


Then do the same on the back side of the paper.


When you put your paper on the wood, and trace over the lines again, the lead transfers onto the wood to leave a faint, but noticeable line to help you in your cutting.


This way, you don't have to print out your shape, cut it out, and trace repeatedly onto your wood surface.
See, easy.
Then you cut, sand, and paint them the desired color.


I traced some so they were in half, then painted and glued them at an angle so they looked like they were flying off the wall.
You could stop at this step, attach the ribbon bodies and hang away, but I took it a step further..
I used the same tracing technique on the WRONG side of some fabric (same fabrics used in Peyton's duvet cover..) and cut those out.
I then took Modge Podge (this is my new favorite finish of Modge Podge, Hard Furniture, I used it on her nightstand project too.) and adhered the fabric onto the appropriate butterfly.


After letting that dry well, I took my trusty emery board (some people call them a nail file) and sanded the edges so the raw fabric edges were clean.
I measured ribbon to two and a half lengths of the butterflies middle section, folded it in half and looped it through the other end, securing it around the body with a knot.
That gave them some cute little antennae and a great way to hang them.


Couldn't resist the cute quote from one of Merrill's favorite songs.. when it comes to his little girls, he loves this song.. but don't tell him I told you! ;)