Bow tie pasta "butterflies" in various colors, pasted to a green background

Craft Alert: Butterflies Attack

Bow tie pasta "butterflies" in various colors, pasted to a green background

Scatter a smattering of bow tie pasta onto a sheet of paper and watch the craft alarm go off on its own. You can almost feel the mad fluttering of wings as the butterflies spiral off into a green-screen type backdrop. I kind of like the “green screen,” though, since I can fill it in by imagining any setting I want, such as flowery meadows, forests at twilight, or buildings on fire with monsters stomping between them.

I got the idea for this project online—and from my own pantry. Who puts a nearly empty box of bow-tie shaped pasta back into the pantry? Apparently, I do! The scant handful inside the box was definitely not enough to even make a snack, so my only other option was to glue them to a sheet of paper and turn them into butterflies.

To turn them into butterflies, I had to first color in the shapes. Sure, I could have used paint, but I’ve been itching to break out my Mr. Sketch “smelly” markers that have been sitting in a drawer for a few years. (Red smells like cherry, blue smells like blueberries, orange smells like oranges, purple smells like grapes, and yellow smells like bananas.) After mostly staining my fingers, which also now smell like grapes, I placed the shapes onto a piece of paper and drew in their antennae and swirls, which are supposed to resemble their flight paths, I think.

As far as crafting projects go, this one’s pretty mild, since it doesn’t involve scissors or a hot glue gun—or even a crane. So, I’m thinking the craft alert is just cautionary, since the butterflies are clearly getting carried away and could knock something over, like a lit candle or a blowtorch—if you’re the type of person to leave these things casually strewn about the house. Apparently, the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks craft alert believes I’m the type of person who would do this.

In any case, this project is perfect for those who are looking for

–a set of keys that opens nothing you own at the moment. (You’ll find them in the drawer with the Mr. Sketch markers.)

–a five-minute escape from thinking about the bear that’s roaming the neighborhood. (There is actually a bear roaming our neighborhood—and has been, off and on, for over a week.)

–a hot girl summer project—indoors. (See above.)

Your Turn: Do you have any exciting summer projects lined up?

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Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

26 thoughts on “Craft Alert: Butterflies Attack”

  2. Love the butterflies! So summery!
    Hot tip: Glue them on to magnets and stick them on your fridge! Or is that just me? 😉
    And here I thought smelly markers went out with the 90s! We had tons of them in our house. In fact, to this day, we keep a stash of the blue ones, every time we move we use the “blueberry” to mark boxes!

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    1. Love the hot tip! I remember when Mr. Sketch smelly markers came out. You could only buy one at a time in a specialty boutique/sticker shop/gifty type place. I love that you can just walk into any store now and get the whole set for an affordable price.

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