How to Make Butterfly Table Decorations
Colorful paper and fabric butterflies make whimsical decorations for baby showers, wedding receptions, a child's birthday event and spring tea parties. Create table decor ranging from centerpieces and candle holders to napkin rings and tablecloths adorned with vibrant, delicate butterflies. Simple craft techniques and an assortment of basic supplies like stickers, iron-on appliques and ribbon can turn plain tableware into economical adornments. Design butterfly embellishments to suit the style and tone of the festivities.
Things You'll Need
- 2- to 3-inch butterfly stickers
- White cardstock
- Scissors
- Hand-held hole punch
- White ribbon
- Cloth napkins
- White tablecloth
- Iron-on fabric butterflies
- Iron
- Silk butterflies
- 1/4-inch-wide wood dowels
- Adhesive dots
- Gardening shears
- Styrofoam
- 2-inch-tall terracotta pots
- Place card
- Shallow glass bowls
- River rocks, beads or marbles
- Butterfly-shaped floating candles
- Tulle
- Wire or fishing line
Instructions
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Create simple napkin rings by placing 2- to 3-inch butterfly stickers on a piece of white cardstock and cutting the shapes out with sharp scissors. Fold each butterfly in half along the body with the white cardstock on the outside. Use a hand-held hole punch to make one hole 1/4-inch above the fold. Cut an 8-inch piece of white ribbon, pull it through the hole, open the butterfly and tie the ribbon around a cloth napkin.
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Embellish a plain, white tablecloth by applying iron-on fabric butterflies in a random pattern. Use an iron to affix a single butterfly to the upper-left corner of the tablecloth. Iron 5 to 8 additional butterflies in random spots heading toward the bottom-right corner of the tablecloth. Iron on 10 to 15 additional appliques around the bottom-right corner as if the butterflies have migrated across the table.
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Add a pretty touch to your table centerpiece by affixing silk butterflies to 1/4-inch-wide wood dowels with adhesive dots. Cut the dowels to different lengths with sharp scissors or gardening shears and place the butterflies among the blooms in a flower arrangement.
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Make butterfly table decorations to hold place cards by using adhesive dots to attach silk butterflies to the top of 1/4-inch-wide and 5-inch-long wood dowels. Place a piece of Styrofoam into a 2-inch-tall terracotta pot and push the wood dowel into the Styrofoam. Rest a place card against the wood dowel and tie a white ribbon around the pot.
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Illuminate a dinner table with decorations featuring floating butterfly-shaped candles. Pour water into shallow glass bowls until the containers are half full. Add a layer of glass beads, river rocks or marbles along the bottom of each bowl and float lit butterfly candles along the water.
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Design "butterflies" by cutting 3-inch squares of colored tulle fabric. Knot a thin piece of white ribbon around the center of the square to cinch the fabric in and generate the butterfly shape. Scatter the airy butterfly accents around the table for a feminine touch or affix them to candle holders, silverware or wine glass stems with thin pieces of wire or fishing line.
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Tips & Warnings
Adapt the butterfly table decorations to your everyday dining room table decor by choosing butterfly stickers or silk butterflies that coordinate with your dinner plates, centerpiece or dining room furniture or drapes.
