Popsicle Stick Butterfly

I made this Popsicle Stick Butterfly because I wanted to enter the Popsicle Stick Challenge.  As I thought about what I wanted to make I kept thinking about butterflies.  Funny thing is, they must not be very common because I couldn't find any on the Internet.  I did find butterflies made with various types of wood, foam, and felt, but not Popsicle sticks.  So I looked at pictures of various butterflies for inspiration and forged into the unknown.  My little girl is so excited to have this on the wall in her room.    

Wood Glue (originally purchased at Wal-Mart) - I already had this in my garage from other projects.  You could also use hot glue for this.
30 Jumbo Craft/Popsicle Sticks (purchased at Wal-Mart)  You only need 22 for the butterfly.  The other eight are for propping it up while gluing if you want the wings to stand at an angle, say for hanging from the ceiling.

1 Package of Peel and Stick Glitter Foam (Purchased at Wal-Mart)

Craft Paint (originally purchased at Hobby Lobby) - I used what I already had on hand for my kids arts and crafts:

Delta Ceramcoat:
Blue Jay 
Pale Yellow

Americana:
Ocean Blue
Razzle Berry
Purple Cow Cyan Blue
Spa Blue

Craft Paint Bushes (originally purchased at Hobby Lobby) - I used what we already had on hand: a foam applicator, angle tipped brush, and a short narrow  tipped brush.

Heavy Duty Shears - I used my Cutco Shears that I've had for years.  They are made of High Carbon Stainless Steel and they worked great!  I tried my kitchen scissors first and they weren't strong/sharp enough to cut through even one Popsicle stick. 

White Duct Tape - (originally purchased Wal-Mart) - Once more I already had this on hand from a previous project. 

FOLLOW THE PICTURES THEY HAVE ALL OF THE DETAILS IN THE BOXES.

Tape the Popsicle sticks together.

I didn't have a pattern to follow so I just winged it.  (pun intended) ;)   

Cut out the top wings.

Here also are the patterns I created that you can print as a template for the wings and glitter foam:
IMPORTANT NOTE:  When printing the page scaling, select none (it will usually say "fit to printable area").  If you don't it will shrink the template.

Now you will tape together 4 Popsicle sticks that you have placed at an angle side by side and then cut them.  see pics

SKIP this step and go to the next one if you plan on using foam.

From here you have a couple of choices.  I did it two ways.  I painted one and used foam on the other.

First I looked at some pics of butterflies and then drew the designs onto the wings free hand.  Then I painted them and the body.  One of the things I love about paint is if you mess up you can fix it very easily.

You can use pipe cleaners or wires as the antennae.

First paint the the wings. 

Second cut a rectangle piece of foam and the stick it to the Popsicle stick.  You can the cut the excess off of the edges.

Third glue it all together.  see pic  Because I used wood glue I let mine dry overnight, but if you use hot glue you won't have to wait that long.

Then cut the Peel and Stick Foam and decorate.  The package I bought had 10 different colors in it.

YAY!  You made a butterfly with Popsicle Sticks!!!!