From Sherri Osborn,
Your Guide to Family Crafts.
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Instructions for making a butterfly out of coffee filters, submitted by Aubra.

Materials Needed:

• Wooden Clothes Pins
• Round Coffee Filters
• Black Acrylic Paint
• Watercolor Paints
• Black Pipe Cleaner
• Glue Gun

Instructions:
It's a good idea for mom or dad to paint the clothes pins black first. I usually just clip mine onto a paint stirrer or an old ruler. Fold the pipe cleaners into V shapes the size you want your antenna to be, cut and hot glue to the clothes pins at the flat end (please do not use a hot glue gun without an adult's help).

Take the coffee filters and spray them with water till they lay flat but aren't drenched (it should only take a few short sprays, I use warm water). Now, go nuts blobing the watercolors on the wet coffee filters, it will run and smear but don't worry. When you are happy with your design on one, repeat this process with another coffee filter. Put the wet filters in a safe place to dry.

When they are dry gather up the coffee filter in the middle, trying to keep the outside edges flat, and clip it into the clothespin. Spread the wings out and you are done.

I usually put a strip of magnet on the backside of clothespin and stick them on the fridge, they are strong enough to hold some paper up. If you don't want them on the fridge you can just clip them around the house (on the curtains the bed pillows).

(The added plus to this is if your child feels like making more you can just swap out the old wings for the new ones, unless of course they all migrated to gramma's house like mine seem to.)

A variation shared by Shannon from NC: Instead of paint, have kids color coffee filters with washable markers. Mist the coffee filter with water causing the colors to run together, let dry. Construct the butterfly as suggested above.

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