Paper Butterflies

These butterflies are pretty to look at and help to brighten up a rainy winters day (don't let the blue sky in the above photo deceive you - it was a dark, gloomy wet day when I made these!).  They are also simple to make! I made them with my 6 year old niece.  A big thank you to Hazel, a dear 93 year old lady who generously gave me the pattern to make these butterflies.

You will need:
Card to create a template (empty cereal packets are great for this)
Pencil
*Paper (see below note)
Scissors
A ruler to help when creating the template.
Thread

*A note about the paper that you use:
I used transparent paper - it gave really sharp creases and lets the light come through when you hang it in the window.  But magazine paper offers lots of variations of colours and is cheap and effective.  Experiment with different papers - you will be doing small concertina folds, so make sure the paper is light enough to be able to fold easily.

 Using your card, create a template the same shape as above. I have given measurements for the widths and length.

 Once you have made your template, trace around it onto your paper.  These paper butterflies have been cut out from magazine pages.

 Lay your butterfly template in front of you with the rounded edge closest to you.

Beginning at the rounded end, begin folding the paper forwards and backwards in a concertina fashion. 

Try to keep the folds fairly small.

 Tie a piece of thread around the centre.

 Open up each side of your folded paper to create a butterfly.

 You can tie your butterflies to a piece of string, to create a mobile.

A completed butterfly.

 Butterflies made from magazine pages.