DIY Make your own butterfly net

Summer is here! This is the time of year I love to be outside all day long. Cycling, walking, or just sitting down and watching all the life around me. Sometimes I take my flora (a book about wild plants) with me and try to figure out all the names of the wild plants I find. And other times I take my butterfly net with me to catch some insects and try to figure out their names. I mainly catch dragonflies (Odonata), which are pretty easy to bring to name.
For quite some years now I have a 'professional' butterfly net, which can be folded. But before that, I used to make my own. Today I will share my 'recipy' for making butterfly nets.


You will need:
- an old badminton racket
- tule or even better, lace curtains (simple ones, with tiny (<1mm), but not to tiny holes)
- scissors
- needle and thread

Take the cords out of your racket.
Cut out a piece of the tule or curtain, that is al little wider than the circumference of the racket and about as long as your arm.
Fold the fabric in half.
sew along the bottom and side of the fabric, leaving about 2,5 cm of the side from the top and the top open (this is one of the sides you made a little wider than the circumference of the racket). I prefer to sew rounded edges on the bottom of the net, but straight workes also fine.
Cut of the excess of fabric.
Fold the top of the net around your racket and sew it. You can make a nice tunnel to go around the racket or simply fold the fabric round the racket and use the holes that are left after you took the cords out to sew through.
Your butterfly is ready to use.

Please be carefull with the insects you catch. Make sure you don't harm them and they don't hurt you.

garland inspiration ♥

For today i've made a post for you that's all about garlands. When i was making this post & looked at all the pretty pictures that i found (on weheartit) i feel inspired to make lots and lots of garlands xD I just adore garlands & i'm so happy that they are not only used for holidays and birthdays anymore! You can use them in your garden, to decorate a cabinet, hang them in your babyroom or in your craftspace.

If you have never made one, i would say give it a try! Start with the the paper ones that you can make and see how it goes. You can use lots of materials to make your own garland. If you do want to use them in the garden, be sure to use plastic or remove it when drops of rain begin to fall... I've made garlands by hand, but i must say that the quickest way to make them is by using a sewingmachine (especially when you are working with fabric or felt). The garlands that i've made so far: one with paper cupcake holders, one with paper hearts, 3 with felt hearts and several with paper punched figures (good way to use your punches again!). On my list is the pompom garland and ehh i wanne make a real long one xD

Enjoy the garland parade & i hope you feel inspired enough to make one!

round and round we go...

just adore these!

just use the (news)paper &

cut out the shape of a heart

aren't these cute for a babyroom?

If you've a garland, leave a link

below i would love to see it!

XO. Vera

Buttefly Mobiles and a Butterfly Collage

Google the term 'Butterfly Mobile' and you get an enormous response with gorgeous examples of butterfly mobiles that would be perfect for a nursery, kids room or birthday party decoration. I have seen many versions of this basic idea starting with the 'no longer available' white butterfly chandelier from pottery barn kids:

Project nursery has a great DIY based on this white version too:

Craftstylish has a great idea for using fabric butterflies to create a mobile for a wedding decor item:

Mimi Bella Boo has a great way to create a mobile using sticks as the hangers:

I always love to see the creativity with felt over at Bugs and Fishes by Lupin:

Ali Edwards has a version of the butterfly mobile:

I selected some of my favorite versions and these are only a few of the varieties out there!
(p.s. Paper Craft magazine has a very simple version in their magazine this month) I will not be taking credit for making this post into a DIY.....I just wanted to show you my inspiration and what I created based on all of the ideas out there!

Okay so I have seen this idea zillions of places. Anyway, my friend commissioned me to create a large canvas butterfly collage for her. I hand cut a bunch of butterflies and punched out a bunch more. I painted the large canvas, adhered the butterflies with glue dots, covered over the entire surface with modge podge, let it dry. Viola! A gorgeous butterfly collage that I am sure my friend will love--it is for her daughter's room!

When I was finished with the collage, I had some small punched butterflies left over so I decided to make a mobile with them.

I had a small blue emboridery hoop, and my sewing machine.

I made strands of garland and then I tied them along the hoop.

 Viola! A gorgeous butterfly mobile that I plan to surprise my friend with!!

I had a lot of fun sewing the garland and I know it is something I will do again....
 Design Sponge has a great idea for using this same sewing technique to decorate packages!

Hope you enjoyed this post. If you decide to make something similar, post a link in the comments, I would love to see what you create!

DIY make (fabric) butterflies

Hi :) I'm Vera and i'm the orange owl with the balloons. I 32 years, married with Harold and i work parttime as a teacher at a primary school. In my free time i paint, scrap and developing my skills on the sewingmachine, with knitting and crochet. I will make a post here every thursday. My posts are about inspiration, daily life, home and garden ideas, DIY projects and craft ideas for/with kids :D

For today i have a little spring/Easter DIY. It's really easy to make yourself and you can even make it together with your kids (they do have to use the siccors ;)) Spring has arrived and it's time to clean your house (ehhh i haven't done mine yet lol) and bring some spring inside.

DIY MAKE (FABRIC) BUTTERFLIES FOR YOUR

CURLY WILLOW EASTER BRANCH

You will need:

- (little) clothespins

- all sorts of fabrics

- fabric glue or double sticky tape

-(fabric) siccors

- paint is optional

-draw a butterfly on paper

If you don't have any fabrics lying around or

you don't want to use them,

you can also use some pretty

giftwrapping paper!

To make one butterfly you need to cut out the pattern two times.

I used fabric glue, but you can also use sided tape.

If the two fabrics are glued together and the sides aren't

completely matching, just cut a little on the sides.

I made three different ones for you to see :D

1. is the one that i made above

2. a butterfly made out of giftwrapping paper

3 made out of a single fabric and sewed together

in the middle

NOTE

If you are not planning of hanging them in your

Easter curly willow branches, you can also make

them and add them on top of a gift or giftcard!

I also made some flowers, wich i also added

with a clothespin. I used crepe paper and a

few other papers. Just make sure that the

paper is flexible.

Draw a flowershape and cut it out.

You can make a single flower, double or triple.

Fold them together in the middle

and you have a pretty flower.

If you like you can make

flowers by doing origami etc.

So here it is... my handmade

butterfly/flower branch!

I also made one with bows :D

This is the one i have in my livingroom!

I hope you have enjoyed this post and feel inspired by it. If you have any questions, just leave a comment! Next week i will make a post about making flowers with different materials :D Hope to see you then :) Wishing you a lovely day. XO.