How to Make African Butterfly Hair Clips
African butterflies are beautiful, colorful and exotic. They have dark, deep and intricate patterns on their wings that make an artistic emblem for hair clips. For novices, using a simpler and more basic design is recommended. But for a more detailed design, use thin paint markers to add the intricacies of the exotic patterns of African butterflies. When finished, wearing them as hair clips can add a colorful flair to your accessories.
Things You'll Need
- Colored felt
- Hair clip
- Super glue
- Paint markers
- Wire (thin)
- Small beads
- Pipe cleaner
- African butterfly pictures
Instructions
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1
Get pictures of African butterflies either from a book or the Internet. Trace a butterfly onto a scrap of felt. If the butterfly is blue, draw on a blue piece of felt. If there are overlapping colors on the butterfly, trace both designs onto the different colors of felt. For example, if there are overlapping colors of blue and red on the wings, trace each pattern onto blue and red scraps of felt and glue them together. The traced butterfly should be approximately 2 to 3 inches long. However, if the hair clip is larger, the butterfly should be sized accordingly.
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2
Add details on the wings. Cut more pieces from the scraps of felt and glue them on. For example, if the pictured butterfly has blue circles on the wings, cut out small blue circles and glue them on your butterfly wings. Use the paint markers to draw in smaller details.
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3
Add the antennae. Cut two pieces of wire approximately 4 inches long. Insert a small bead onto each wire and secure it by wrapping the end of each wire around its bead. Cut a section of pipe cleaner, approximately 3 to 4 inches long. Wrap half of the antenna wires along the pipe cleaner so that the wire still sticks out.
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4
Glue on the body. Take the felt butterfly wings and fold in half. Place a moderately heavy object over the fold to hold in place. Wrap the pipe cleaner around the middle (where the fold is) of the wings. Take the two ends of the pipe cleaner sticking out and wrap them around each other to secure. Spread the wires to give the appearance of antennae. Glue the body into the center of the felt wings to secure. Let it dry.
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Glue the butterfly onto a hair clip. Let the glue set and dry before wearing the clip.
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Tips & Warnings
There are also pre-made butterflies in craft stores that can simply be glued onto a hair clip if a more realistic butterfly is desired.
