How to Make an Evil Butterfly From Sheet Metal

Your home or garden is missing something, and you’re not sure what. You know it’s not a garden gnome—you need something much more original. Nothing gets more original than an evil butterfly. You can make an evil butterfly from sheet metal with a few simple tools and a wicked imagination. Let your creativity fly.

Things You'll Need

• Snips
• Paint and sealer
• Pant markers
• Wire
• Flat sheet metal piece with raised cylindrical piece

Instructions

1. Get your sheet metal. Evil butterflies need a piece of sheet metal that has a raised cylindrical piece in the middle. Pieces used for vents are good. You can buy such pieces at hardware and home stores, or your favorite salvage yard.

2. Sketch out your butterfly. The raised cylindrical piece is going to be the butterfly’s mouth. Use a marker to sketch the rest of the butterfly from there. Figure out which end is the top and sketch a pair of slanted, menacing eyes. Sketch the wings, making sure they have at least three points that reach to the ends of the base metal. Scoop the sides of the wings inward, reaching out towards the points. Draw triangle shapes around the top of the cylinder. Those are your teeth.

3. Snip away. Use a pair of snips to cut along the lines you sketched. Your finished cutout should consist of a pair of eyes sticking up from above the mouth area and two flappable wings on either side of it. Cut jagged lines around the top of the cylindrical piece sticking out of the center.

4. Paint it. Pick at least three colors in the same family of varying hues for the wings. Start with the lightest, concentrating on the wide parts of the wings. Use the middle color to border the lightest color. Use the darkest color around the edges and connecting the wing points to the mouth area. Use white on the eyes and tips of the teeth.

5. Add embellishments. Use paint markers to enhance the borders with swirly lines, little dots or whatever else your heart desires. Plop two black pupils in the middle of the white eyes. Dabble little silver tips on the teeth.

6. Finish it off. Once the butterfly is fully dry, spray it with a sealer, such as polyurethane, to preserve the paint and give it a sheen. Glue two small picture hangers on the back so you can loop wire through them and hang.

Tips & Warnings

• Evil butterflies are great in an outdoor happy-looking garden to give it some balance.

• If you are using your butterfly outdoors, make sure to pick outdoor paint.

• If you don’t want your butterfly to be evil, refrain from creating jagged teeth and give him round eyes rather than slanted menacing ones.

• Don’t use glue and picture hooks for butterflies outdoors. Poke small holes in the wings to thread wire through instead. Glue can melt in the hot summer sun.

• Sheet metal is sharp. Wear gloves for extra protection or just be very, very careful of the edges.

• Don't hang an evil butterfly above your kid's bed unless you want him to be scarred for life.