This is a simple and quick Valentine's Day craft made out of construction paper, that children of any age can make.
Supplies
2 sheets of red construction paper
2 sheets of white construction paper or any white paper
1/3 sheet of yellow construction paper
sparkles/glitter
white glue
scissors
a colourful ribbon for Valentines Day, about 8" long
stapler
colouring pencils, markers or crayons
pages of old newspaper
Cover your work area with the newspaper to prevent messes.
Instructions
[1] Click and print out the two hearts above.
[2] Have an adult help you to print them out, or draw 2 hearts of your own onto white paper.
[3] Cut out the printed white hearts
[4] Colour in the lettering
[5] Place a white heart on top of a sheet of the red construction paper and trace an outline about 1 inch larger than the white heart. Cut out the heart. Do this again so that you have 2 red hearts.
[6] Take one of the red hearts and place it on the white paper and trace an outline about 2 inches larger than the red heart. Cut out the heart. Do this again so that you have 2 large white hearts.
[7] Take one of the large white hearts and place it on the red construction paper and trace an outline about 1 inch larger than the white heart. Cut out the heart. Do this again so that you have 2 large red hearts.
[8] You now have: 2 white hearts with lettering, 2 small red hearts, 2 plain large white hearts and 2 large red hearts.
[9] On the yellow construction paper, draw a butterfly body shape big enough to support the size of the wings and cut it out.
[10] Take your ribbon and fold it in half and staple it to the center back of the butterfly body (to hang up the butterfly).
Putting the Butterfly together
[11] Take your wings and glue them together in this order:
big red heart on bottom
big white heart on top of big red heart
red heart on top of big white heart
white heart with lettering on top.
You should have it layered so there is a border of each colour showing. It's a good idea to have the points of the hearts all together.
Do the same with the other wing.
[12] Now, you will need to grab a grown-up to help with this part. Ask them to center both the wings on the body back and staple them to the body so that they won't fall off.
[13] Take a piece of red construction paper and draw 4 small hearts. 2 are for the eyes, and 2 are for the antennae tips. Cut them out.
[14] Glue the eyes onto the butterfly and draw a smile on it's face.
[15] Cut 2 small narrow strips of yellow construction paper for the antennae.
[16] Fold the yellow paper strips back and forth so it becomes like an accordion.
[17] Glue one end of each strip to the back of the butterfly head for the antennae.
[18] Glue a small heart on the end of each antennae.
[19] Cut a red heart that is big enough to cover the staples on the butterfly body and the areas where the wings join the body and glue it in place.
[20] Tidy up your work area except for the newspaper, glue and sparkles.
[21] Put a thin layer of glue onto the wings where you would like the sparkles to be. I covered the black area on the lettering heart on mine.
HINT: use a paintbrush or cotton swab for the glue; it's much neater that way.
[22] Sprinkle the sparkles or glitter carefully over the glued areas, or sprinkle a bit of sparkles onto the newspaper and carefully turn the butterfly upside-down and press gently so that the sparkles will stick to the glued areas.
[23] Place your butterfly onto a clean piece of newspaper to dry and tidy up your work area.
That's it! All done and you have made a lovely Valentine's Day Butterfly! Have fun making them, and don't forget to post a picture of your finished craft in the Guest Book!
