Easy Tutorial for How to Make Paper Butterflies

I have been trying work on my YouTube channel to create a collection of craft tutorial videos. In the past, I have gotten emails from people requesting video. Because of this, I decided to go back through some popular posts and make a video to go along with the written photo tutorial.  This one is How to Make Paper Butterflies.

Use Paper Butterflies for

• Party Decorations
• Embellishments for Paper Lanterns
• Card Making
• Nursery Decor

Time: 20 Minutes

Materials:

Materials list contains Amazon Affiliate links for recommended products.

• Paper
• Circle Punch (or something round to trace and cut)
• Paper Cutter (or straight edge and scissors)
• String
• Embellishment (for center, optional)

Watch the YouTube Tutorial:

Enjoy this quick video tutorial on how to make accordion paper butterflies.

Instructions:

If you need more instruction other than the video, I wrote a step by step photo tutorial for these in this post, Paper Accordion Butterfly Lanterns, when I was decorating for my daughter’s Cinderella party a couple years ago.  They look beautiful covering white lanterns.

Tips and tricks

• To change the size of the butterfly, simply change the size of the circle and square.  For example, cut out a 4” circle with a 4” square for a larger butterfly, and so on.  For this video tutorial, I used 2” circle and 2” square.
• I also used scrapbook paper which is thick.  Using regular paper is easier to fold and unfold.
• Lastly, I want to also note, that using a smaller than 2”, use a lightweight paper only.  It will be easier to fold/unfold.

I hope you try it!  As I mentioned, these look beautiful glued onto lanterns for party decorations, or even a kid’s room or nursery for decorations.  Play around with the colors and patterns to fit your décor.

Updated and improved from May 2017