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Make your own butterfly at home

Material to make a butterfly

Hello everyone,

What lovely sunshine we have all been having in the past few weeks (bar the last few days)! I’ve seen lots of butterflies on my walks and this inspired me for today’s activity. It’s also a great way to recycle plastic bottles and use up old nail varnish.

You will need:

  • A clean plastic bottle
  • A permanent black marker
  • Scissors
  • Some nail varnish
  • A picture of a butterfly

Material to make a butterfly

First of all you need to cut out a piece of plastic that’s the right size to cover the picture of the butterfly. I have used a page from a colouring book but you can print an outline from google images or can even draw your own freehand if you don’t have a picture.

Butterfly sheet

Next with the curved side facing downwards (imagine that you are drawing on the outside of the bottle) you can trace over your outline with the black marker. This can be a little tricky but it helps to squash down the plastic in the area you are drawing.

Tracing butterflies with black marke

Once your outline is complete you can now cut out your butterfly. I made two folds down either side of the body to bend the wings upwards and give it a lovely 3D effect.

Plastic Butterflies

Next on the underside of the butterfly (imagine it’s the inside of the bottle) you can now use nail varnish to colour in and decorate it.

Apply nail polish to butterfly Painted butterfly

You can add glitter or other decorations if you have them too. I found a couple that I made a few years ago and I used some glitter glue to go over the outlines.  These can make lovely decorations and I’m planning on sticking mine to a picture frame.

Finished butterflies

I hope you have enjoyed today’s craft. As always I would love to see any of your creations. Please get in touch with comments, suggestions and photos via my social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as: The Crafty Hare UK (@thecraftyhareuk) or you can reply to MFT’s post if you prefer.

Thanks for reading and I will see you next week!

Beccy

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Megan

Delivery and Strategy Lead: Co-Production and Community Engagement (Leatherhead)

Portrait of Megan, Co-Production Lead, MFT

Megan joined MFT in January 2025 and looks after the development of our strategic priority for MFT to live and breathe co-production. She also facilitates our Advisory Group, and champions those with lived experience of mental health challenges to improve the way mental health support is developed, reviewed, and delivered.

Megan first learnt about co-production as a Lived Experience Advisor with the Independent Mental Health Network based at Surrey Coalition of Disabled People, contributing her own lived experience to mental health projects in Surrey and North East Hampshire after graduating university.

She has since worked on a range of development projects for Surrey’s mental health and wellbeing support, immersing community engagement and lived experience into research and decision-making. Additionally, she is an alumna for The King’s Fund after completing their Advanced Organisational Development Practitioner programme.

To maintain her wellbeing, Megan is an avid reader, journals, and practices Yoga.