Rainbow Buttefly Cake DIY & Tutorial

So, mid last year I got married! The theme I worked with was 'Rainbow Butterfly Garden', and I had my heart set on a cake with cascading rainbow butterflies!

I believe of course that a picture speaks a thousand words, and the photo below is my husband and I cutting our butterfly wedding cake.

My determination was to have this style of wedding cake, which the Internet told me sky-rocketed to fame thanks to Martha Stewart. The thing that got me was why pay the price tag when I could DIY the cake decorations myself with the help of my family? This post is the result of those lofty dreams!

Read on if you want to find out how you can make your own, with a FREE DOWNLOAD (made by me) of the butterflies I used!

You will need:

• Butterfly transparency sheets (Download the files here! They were created as A4 page size)
• Scissors
• Clear sticky tape
• Wire (best to use cake-decorating wire, but out of desperation I used florist wire)
• Wire cutters

Background Info about Tutorial:

My first step was to source freeware butterfly outlines online. It took a bit of searching to ensure the ones used were not copyrighted and available to use, but it was important to me that this was so.

I used Photoshop to colour the butterflies in tones that I felt were complimentary to my wedding colours and to one another. Basically each sheet is comprised of 11 butterflies in the colour of choice, as illustrated below. In my downloadable I have included, all of the butterflies are are the colours below and have the black outlines but the rest of the page (ie not the butterlies) is transparent, not solid black (I'm not sure why but Blogger does not seem to like .PNG image files).

Save the file to a USB, and take it to your local Office Works (or similar outlet) and have the images printed on transparent film, which is basically the overhead projection sheets.

How to Proceed:

This is where the fun begins! Each butterfly will need to be cut out by hand, as neatly as possible. If you can recruit as many family members as possible that would be great! Luckily for me, my mother rose to the occasion and cut them all out herself! (Thanks Mum ;-))

Each butterfly will then need wire attached to it. I used florist wire because the cake wire I ordered online never arrived in time :( It worked though! Mine was green, but white would have blended in more beautifully with a white cake. The wire was about 7" long, and each one was cut in half.

Make an 'L' shape with the wire (approximately 1/2"), and attach it with a piece of invisible sticky tape to your butterfly. Of course, use the 1/2" to attach to the butterfly, so hopefully you should not see it when looking at the butterfly.

My mother stuck each wire as she completed it into a styrofoam cube, for easy and safe transportation.

The next challenge is then to decorate the cake! Because everything was crazy leading into the ceremony, I had no idea who in the end decorated the cake; but I found out it was in the staff in the kitchen of our wedding venue. How great was that?! I had this silly idea that I would be able to decorate the cake myself... But honestly this was a tad unrealistic.

Because I was trying to keep costs down, the cake that we chose from the bakery was not decorated. It was a chocolate and white chocolate layer cake from The Cheesecake Shop, with double icing. They could have added ribbon or flowers at an additional cost but it was much cheaper without... And they were not able to decorate any cakes with items that were not apart of their inventory.

Trust your instincts with how to decorate with the butterflies, but to prepare I printed an inspiration picture from online and made sure it was kept with the butterflies so that the lucky decorator of the cake would understand my vision!

The trick would be to ensure they are spaced out appropriately for the size of your cake, and inserted into the cake at various depths. There is actually a really great YouTube tutorial that shows you how to decorate, so I'd highly recommend that if you're planning this cake.

So sorry that I don't have any pictures of the process, but I wasn't running around with a camera on the day, as I'm sure you would understand! I hesitate to use the pictures of others, because many online images are from stores that are selling their wares. There are some really great ones out there for those who would love the butterflies, but are not as interested in completing the above process! But any Google Images Search will give you such wonderful inspiration!

Here is a picture though of the Martha Stewart magazine cover that seemed to start it all!

I hope that these instructions help you, and there is no doubt that there is many opportunities to brighten up a cake with these butterflies, not just a wedding! If you have any questions at all about the process, please don't hesitate to ask!

I would really love to hear what you think of this post, so I would love it if you could leave a comment! I worked very diligently on these butterflies for my own use, and am excited to share my files with you!

And of course I would LOVE to know if you use my download for your cakes, so please be sure and let me know if you do...

Rainbow Butterfly Trinket Tutorial

So, some of you might know - I'm engaged. My working theme for my wedding is: Rainbow Butterfly Garden. It always sounds cheesy when I say it out loud, but trust me when I say I have a good feeling about this ;)

On my agenda of fitting the theme, I have seen some gorgeous decorative butterflies for sale at the markets. I've considered my options available on the matter; which range from potentially hiring a display from the vendors, to forking out the dollars as a bonbonerie (<- Possibly the best wedding word ever!). But I imagine the male guests wouldn't be as thrilled to be gifted one, so phooey to the wasted expense!

That got me to thinking one lazy Sunday that I could make them myself! Dingdingding went the alarm bells... I decided to take some pictures as I went along, so lucky you as you score a free tutorial.

These are the materials I used:

1: 3x Transparency film w/butterflies | 2: Various beads for decoration

3: Jewellery findings (crimp beads only used with nylon thread) | 4: Nylon thread

5: Needles (only 1 needed! A sharp pin is also OK) | 6: Glue (preferred was hot-glue, not pictured)

7: Puff glitter glue | 8: Scissors

I started off by Googling for free butterfly images and found the outline of a butterfly that I liked. Using Photoshop, I coloured certain areas in full black; and others I used the gradient tool to colour the wings, and altered the opacity of some of the butterfly's colours.

Once I had a page of 8, I went to the local Officeworks and requested 3 colour prints on transparency film. The total cost: $2.91.

Using scissors, I carefully cut around the outline of three butterflies of the same colours. You only need to cut the antennae for the one that will go on the bottom, not all three.

For the first butterfly, you do nothing. The one that will be in the middle, gently fold the wing up where it meets the body, on each side. You will do the same for the 3rd, however if you make the third more pronounced it will help the viewer see all three sets of wings.

Next, glue the three layers together. For my first attempt, I used the glue shown in the picture. It was akin to superglue, and I'm not sure that I recommend it. For the subsequent two I have made, I used a hot glue gun and it seemed to work even better! Make sure that the glue is only placed on the body of the butterfly, not the wings. You want them to be free to move, remember?

Allow the glue to dry, and carefully you can use glitter pens to decorate any areas of the butterfly. I'd only recommend decorating the wings of the top-most layer, but I also added spots to the ends of the antennae. 

Be careful with this next step! Using a needle, I pierced through all three layers and the glue so that I had a small hole running through the middle. At first I wasn't sure it would work, but it did. So if you have any of those moments.... Perseverance will pull you through!

In the above image, I have already begun to thread the hanging nylon with decorative bits. Pull that need through at this time though, but wiggle it around a bit to make it wider for your thread or eye-pins, as required.

When I created my first butterfly, I did not buy clear jewellery thread as  thought I had some at home. I was mistaken, as it was the nylon and non-clear kind. As a result, I wasn't 100% happy with the finished look. But it can be used! When  made my next two, I used my jewellery supplies and made it with fine chain instead. I prefer this look, but go with what you like!

I used decorative pieces that I brought from the local Spotlight to gussy up the hanging parts. It is recommended that you have the butterfly firmly between beads on the bottom and the top so it sits right as it dangles. So make sure it is flush and it won't sit awkwardly on your decorative line.

If you...

Use chain:

I used eye-pins to thread the beads on in my 2nd and 3rd attempts. The sequence can vary, but it basically needs to go: eye-pin, bead, butterfly, bead and then twist the remaining straight end of the eye-pin to make another 'eye' and enable it to be attached to chain.

Use nylon thread:

You can replace the chain with the nylon thread; but to ensure the butterfly sits nicely, you will need to re-thread your line through the first point of entry to your bead at least one extra time. This will help your bead to stay where you want it to. 

When using the crimp bead, I threaded it first onto my line. Then, I threaded the end bead. I threaded the end of the line back through the crimp bead and then squished it tight with the pliers. I had to add in a few knots for my own piece of mind too. 

I finished off the last end with a lobster clasp. This allows it to be secured at any point of the chain; but also where I have put it on my rear-view mirror, the clasp encircles the entire circumference of the chain allowing it to adjust to its perfect cinch.

And voila! Here you have 3 finished treasures:

There is some assumed knowledge here about how to do basic jewellery work. There are some great tutorials out there though if you are new to it. I even have one here which can help you! Please ask any questions if you need to, I'd be more than happy to help!

Oh, and why should dangly decorations get all the fun? I took a boring pen, old bit of ribbon and golden decoration I appropriated from the last wedding I attended and whipped up this pen. Don't forget the hot-glue! It's currently spicing up my pen caddy at work ;)

To have fun with this craft, you only need to stop the butterfly after the glueing stage, then you can let your imagination run wild!  Decorate mirrors, headbands, make magnets.... Have fun! I know I will <3

Disclaimer: Please ask if anything does not make sense, towards the end my head literally started pounding! Do not hesitate to ask any questions at all.

Butterfly Clips Tutorial

Recently I was visiting my parents, and reading their magazines (as you do!). In the letters page of Take 5 Magazine, I came across reference to an article from an issue sometime last year. It was a small picture, to be sure. I squinted away and read the instructions, the font about sz 1. Talk about super-small! But I knew I had to try their crafty project! I loved the end result, and I really wanted to share it with you all too. The instructions and wording for the tutorial are my own, however there is no-way I could have done it without their inspiration!

The templates were drawn by myself free-handed, if you're feeling adventurous you could do the same! Alternatively, I have created a PDF file with the templates and written instructions.

Download Printable Instructions

Letter | A4

You will need:
Butterfly wing templates Mini Bulldog Clips Decorative/Scrapbooking paper (sturdy is best) Scissors Pencil Hot Glue Gun

Select the paper that you would like to use for the wings. This is the best part! Pink and purple are my favourite colours, and I loved the sheet-music styling.

I played around a little with the colour/pattern combinations until I found what I liked.

Using the hot glue gun, place a line of glue onto the back of the bulldog clip. I brought my clips at Smiggle, I love their funky colours! Make sure that the arms of the clip are folded back like the image below, so they won't get in the way. Press and hold the clip in place until the glue sets, ensuring good contact between paper and clip.

Place a line of glue down the centre of the large wings, and press the smaller set of wings firmly in place until the glue sets.

Go ahead and create your army butterfly farm! I've never worked with scrapbooking paper before, but I was delighted with the fact that have not one, but two different themes! Tres chic. And so you can make so many different combinations easily.

To attach to items, simply fold back the bulldog clip arms so they are touching the paper wings. Then clip away to your heart's content! They would look great adorning a gift... Can you imagine receiving a brown paper package tied with ribbon and a butterfly on top? I can...

Hopefully you have just as much fun as I did creating the butterflies. Very easy and very satisfying! Please let me know if you enjoyed the tutorial or if you have any problems with it!