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 Projects : Valentine's Day : Foam Craft Creativity: Butterfly Heartlings
Foam Craft Creativity: Butterfly Heartlings "LUVerfly" Butterfly Heartlings ProjectEasy to make flying butterfly hearts for Valentine's Day and other special loving occasions!By Chris Dunmire One day while I was doodling a butterfly in my notebook, I realized how similar a butterflies' wings were to a symmetrical pair of hearts kissing at their points. Using this simple principle, I taught a group of children how to draw butterflies just like this on the sidewalk with colored chalk. I told them that if they can draw a heart, they can also draw a butterfly. Then I got down on my hands and knees and showed them how. You should have seen their faces light up once they got the idea. Fifteen minutes later, the sidewalk was filled with dozens of "LUVerflies" fluttering along the concrete canvas. This foamie craft project is an extension of the sidewalk LUVerflies. After purchasing a huge bucket of colorful foam shapes, I found that the large hearts make awesome butterfly wings. With a few more embellishments, I designed a complete Butterfly Heartling, suitable for a fun refrigerator magnet or Valentine's Day novelty or other special occasion accent. The "LUVerflies" Butterfly Heartlings Project makes an easy Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or other special occasion gift made by gluing colored square- and heart-shaped foam pieces together. Learn how I made my LUVerflies by following the illustrated step-by-step project instructions below. Project Materials & Tools:
Foam Craft Tips: Craft foam is flexible and easy to cut with sharp scissors. Pieces stick together with craft glue.You can buy small quantities of pre-packaged foam shapes from craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby. You'll save money (and have plenty of leftovers for other projects) by purchasing a big bucket of foam shapes. The bucket I bought was about $8 and had hundreds of shapes (hearts, circles, triangles, and squares) in a variety of sizes. Foam sheets are also available (8.5" x 11") for cutting custom shapes and designs. Project Instructions:
1. Gather your shapes. To create the simple Luverfly, you'll need to choose a two-color scheme and sort your foam pieces proportionately as the example shows. Here's a breakdown of my shape colors and sizes:
2. Position the wings. Lay the large hearts next to each other on a flat surface. Make sure they are even and touching as shown.
3. Apply glue to body. Apply two dots of glue to the medium heart as shown.
4. Attach body to wings. Turn the medium heart over and position it on top of the wings. The bottom of the medium heart should overlap wings as shown. Next, apply a drop of glue above the medium heart for the antennas. Assembly Tip: The foam pieces will most likely shift as you assemble them together. Since the glue will take some time to dry, simply re-position the pieces as you go.
5. Attach antennas to body. Cut two thin strips from the large square for the antenna shafts. Apply a dot of glue on each small heart and assemble antennas to body as shown. Assembly Tip: The preliminary antenna assembly (cutting shafts and gluing them to the small hearts) can be done ahead of time to make this step easier. Allow the Luverfly assembly to dry completely, and it's finished!
Optional: Turn your Luverfly into a magnet by gluing a small round magnet to the back of the medium heart. © 2005, 2008 Chris Dunmire. All rights reserved. More with Chris Dunmire
01/21/08 [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
