Mother’s Day DIY Butterfly Brooch {With Free Silhouette Cutting File!}

Spring brings lovely things, doesn’t it? Flowers, birds, butterflies – all of nature’s goodness! Mother’s Day is the perfect time to celebrate nature’s beauty. We usually do this with a bouquet of flowers but what about creating a more permanent ode to nature? I’ll show you how to make a beautiful, whimsical Mother’s Day DIY butterfly brooch.

Supplies needed to make your own DIY butterfly brooch:

• Silhouette Cameo or Scissors.
• Color Printer.
• White Cardstock.
• Mod Podge Dimensional Magic.
• Pin Backs.
• E-6000 Adhesive.
• Mod Podge Matte (optional).

Step 1. Using the print & cut feature on Silhouette, print and cut this butterfly file from white cardstock. (I made this file just for you using free vintage images from BioDiversity Heritage Library). If you do not have a cutting machine, just cut the butterfly prints by hand.Step 2. Begin applying Dimensional Magic to the front of the butterflies. Start by outlining one wing, fill in with more and use the tip of the bottle to move the Dimensional Magic around to completely cover the section and disperse any air bubbles. Do this until the entire butterfly is filled in. Then it requires a few hours of drying time.

Dimensional Magic really does seem magical! It will create a hard molding to protect the paper and give a bit of dimension. Just awesome. Here’s what the DIY butterfly looks like once it’s dry. Pretty!

Step 3. (Optional) If you want your paper butterfly to last even longer, apply Mod Podge Matte to the back side. I use a regular paint brush to do this and wash the brush off immediately. (The gray flecks on my butterfly are from leftover paint on the brush.)

Step 4. Use E-6000 to adhere a pin back to the back of the DIY butterfly. I let this sit for a minute and then placed a flat, heavy object on it to dry overnight. Sometimes, if you don’t place the heavy object, the butterfly won’t lay flat.Voila! You’ve completed a beautiful Mother’s Day brooch.

It’s best to make these DIY butterfly brooches in batches, as several just take a few more minutes than one brooch.

Do you have any crafty Mother’s Day plans this year?

Katie

Katie is the creative mind behind lemonjitters.com, a blog dedicated to all things crafty. Her interests are ever-changing and currently include: kitschy kitchen timers, digital design, eating lots of chocolate and paper crafting.