How do I make washi-tape butterflies with party guests?

How the butterfly craft works

Each butterfly is a folded paper square decorated with washi tape, cut into matching wings and clipped into a wooden spring clothespin that acts as the body. Googly eyes and curled pipe-cleaner antennae finish it off. Guests take home a butterfly that also works as a clip.

The fold makes the wing outlines match. It does not copy the tape pattern onto the other wing. Show this with your sample so children know what to expect. Many children enjoy putting a different pattern on each wing.

The plan below is for one table of eight guests. Decide who those eight are before you buy supplies. If the birthday child, a sibling or another child in the household is making a butterfly, count them in the eight. Add places only for children who aren't counted yet.

A party guest-list planner usually lists invited guests only, so add the birthday child and any household children who'll make a butterfly separately. Mark who is doing the craft and count each child once, so the eight places are neither short nor double-counted.

What supplies do I need for eight guests?

For a different number of guests, start with one paper square and one clothespin per child, then add the spares you want. The original plan allows about 30 minutes for preparation. Drawing the pattern and cutting wings for younger guests may take longer.

Paper squares and clothespins are only part of the job; scissors, tables and anything for displaying finished butterflies need sorting too. A checklist of supplies to buy, borrow or prepare helps you decide what you own and what to get. Preparation may still run longer for younger guests.

If every guest needs prepared wings, cut wings from eight of the ten squares. Those prepared wings are the guests' projects, not eight extra butterflies.

• 10 paper squares, 6 inches across: eight for guests and two spares. Use tracing or parchment paper, and test how it takes the tape. A 40-sheet pad covers three tables of ten squares if each sheet gives you at least one square.
• Three washi rolls to start with: one striped, one dotted and one solid.
• 10 wooden spring clothespins: eight bodies and two spares. These are the clips that open when you squeeze them, not the flat wooden pins used for some other crafts.
• 24 glue dots, ten 3-inch pipe-cleaner pieces and one sheet of 10mm googly eyes. You need at least 16 eyes for eight butterflies.
• A cardboard half-butterfly pattern you draw yourself (cereal-box cardboard works), a pencil, and kid scissors for each guest who will cut.
• One demonstration butterfly, left partly cut and folded so you can show how the outlines match when opened.
• A jar of pattern cards, if you're using them.
• A roll of double-sided tape for the display and eight favor bags.
• Prepared wings for each guest under 6.
• A bowl for scraps and glue-dot backing papers, and a spot for refills.

How do I set up the craft table?

Put the tape at one end of the table, the pattern-card jar in the middle, and the eyes, antennae and glue dots at the other end. Leave room for cutting so guests don't reach across someone using scissors to get tape.

Before guests sit down, check that each child has their own place, can reach tape without crossing someone's cutting space and has room to work. The checklist on how to organize a craft station also reminds you to leave the end of the party for cleanup, packing and pickup.

Label the rolls by pattern as well as colour, for example stripes, dots and plain. That gives guests another way to find them. If a card depends on telling shades apart, ask what works for the children coming.

Pattern labels help, but look through the design cards too. If one depends only on telling shades apart, add a pattern or symbol or set that card aside, and ask families what works for their child. Ideas for color-blind-friendly party games and decorations include matching symbols on cards and items.

Keep food on a different surface. If you only have one table, set the finished butterflies aside and clear away the craft supplies before you serve snacks.

When you switch from craft to snacks, clear the supplies, wipe the table and have everyone wash their hands before eating. A guide to craft party food kids actually eat also suggests keeping powdered donuts and loose sugary toppings away from the craft area if you serve them.

A parent who wants to help could refill tape or collect backing papers while children decorate. Agree on that job beforehand, and check what help their own child needs.

Settle a helping parent's job before the craft starts and name it plainly, such as refilling tape. Advice on how to agree on parents’ roles suggests first checking whether their child needs help, then explaining the arrangement and offering a real job or a nearby seat.

How to fold, tape and cut the wings

These steps keep the two wings joined at the fold, so one clothespin can hold them both.

• Fold a 6-inch square in half. The folded edge becomes the centre of the butterfly.
• Decorate the outside of the paper with tape, overlapping neighbouring strips by about a quarter inch. Keep the paper folded while you work. Decorate the other outer face too if you want tape on both wings. Don't tape the open edges together.
• Trace the half-butterfly pattern with its straight edge along the fold, so the wing shape extends away from the fold.
• Cut the curved outline through both layers. Don't cut along the fold, or the wings will come apart.
• Open the paper. You should have two matching wings joined in the middle. Add any last tape details before attaching the body.

How to attach the clothespin body

Open a spring clothespin, slip the joined centre of the wings between its jaws and let it close. Adjust the paper until a wing sits on each side.

Wrap one strip of washi around the wooden body, leaving the spring free to work. Stick on two googly eyes with glue dots. Curl a 3-inch pipe-cleaner piece around a pencil and stick it near the head with a glue dot for antennae.

Let guests gently squeeze the clip and watch the wings move. How much they move depends on how the paper sits in the clip.

Using pattern cards and design ideas

A guest can draw a card from the jar before decorating, swap it for another or skip the cards and invent their own pattern. Before you put the cards out, check them against your tape. Rainbow order needs more colours, a five-tape mix needs two extra rolls, and chevron or translucent designs need those particular tapes. For a circle-dot card, cut tape circles ahead of time or offer dotted tape instead.

Example designs: a striped border around each wing with dotted tape near the centre, or horizontal strips on one wing and vertical strips on the other.

• Translucent window wings: parchment squares and translucent washi. Hold a taped sample up to your window first.
• Fridge clip: add an adhesive magnet strip to the back of the clothespin and test it on the kind of surface it will go on.
• Garland: clip spare butterflies onto twine. Count any extras separately from the guests' ten squares.
• Scalloped edges: for interested guests aged 12 and up, with detail scissors ready and the plain outline still offered.
• Pastel spring set: change only the tape colours and add name cards.
• Place cards: clip a name card into each butterfly and set it beside the place settings, away from plates and food.
• Later arrivals at a longer drop-in session: keep a fourth and fifth roll in reserve and change which patterns are out between groups.

If your drop-in session runs long, food needs the same planning as the tape: reserve portions for later guests and time any cooking around expected arrivals. Keep serving on a separate surface from the craft table. A food plan for guests arriving at different times can help.

Example: a 30-minute session for eight guests

This example assumes one table of eight, with squares, younger guests' wings and antenna pieces prepared ahead. The times are an illustrative plan, not a deadline each child has to meet.

Displaying the butterflies and sending them home

Press a loop of double-sided tape onto the back of each clothespin and stick the butterfly to your chosen window with the decorated side facing the room. Start low enough for guests to see their own work. Tracing or parchment paper with translucent tape may let light through, but solid tape gives a different look. Check with your sample rather than promising that every butterfly will glow.

Take the butterflies down before pickup. The finished butterfly can be the take-home item, so decide whether you need a separate favour too.

Checklist before guests arrive

• Confirm who is in the guest count, including the birthday child or siblings if they're making butterflies.
• Make one sample butterfly with your own paper, tape, dots and clothespin.
• Check that your tape covers the sample and recount the rolls if needed.
• Cut prepared wings for each guest under 6 and anyone else who needs them.
• Curl or cut the antenna pieces and count the eyes and glue dots, with spares.
• Leave out any pattern cards that need tape you don't have.
• Arrange tape, cards and finishing supplies with room to cut safely.
• Test the display tape on your window, mirror or door.
• Set out favour bags and decide where finished butterflies go before food is served.
• Afterwards, collect scraps and backing papers, store leftover rolls flat, and keep finished projects separate from the cleanup pile.

Sources and further reading

• Washi tape butterfly craft station

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