We love to recycle household materials for our crafts, to help the kids learn about reusing and not wasting, and just because so many of the household items make such great craft supplies anyway! I’ve shared about our favourite junk modelling supplies before and this time we used cardboard rolls (toilet rolls or kitchen rolls cut in half), cake cases and pipe cleaners to make a junk modelling butterfly family.
This is a simple and easy craft, which Mr Z was able to make with very little input from me. Even with just these few simple supplies he managed to use his creativity and imagination to create different designs for each butterfly. We decided to make them into a royal family with a king, queen and a baby princess.
First we painted the cardboard tubes then let them dry. You can go for whatever colours you prefer, and add designs rather than keeping them plain if you want to.
Then we added the face details with a black marker pen.
To make the wings we experimented with scrunching the cake cases, or cutting a piece out from the middle to make the shape. Both ways work, it depends on the effect you prefer, then we just glued them onto the tubes. Mr Z wanted to add some writing and decorations to some of the wings too.
We had these gold cake cases left over from another project and they worked so well for the wings because of their lovely colour but you can use whatever you have, decorate it, customise it, colour it in, add glitter etc!
We used pipe cleaners to add the antennae just as we had done for our tissue paper butterfly craft, and used a piece of tape to stick those to the inside of the tube.
You could make this more elaborate but here’s our simple and quick version which can be put together in 5 minutes (not including paint drying time)
After making the basic butterfly, Mr Z decided to branch out and use more cake cases to make a crown for his king butterfly, and use another to make a skirt for the princess butterfly. We tried out different coloured wings too.
For the skirt, you need cut out the base of the cupcake case, and then just push the tube through it. It should fit perfectly.
Once the butterflies are made, they can be used to make up stories or role play.
You might also like:
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- Introduction to Junk Modelling
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- Tissue paper butterfly
- Butterfly and bug crafts
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Those are very sweet! I’ll remember this one for when I start my placement in the nursery. So easy to make!
These are just adorable! This would be a neat way to reinforce a homeschool lesson. Please come on over and link up with us at The Home Matters #3 Linky Party!
They look great! I really should do some more junk modelling with my two!
So cute! Sharing in After School Link Up round up next Monday!
We’ve been doing a bit of modelling with toilet rolls lately – this will be a must try! Thanks for linking up to the parenting pin it party
I have a bag of toilet paper rolls and these look like such a fun way to use them. Thanks for linking up with Family Fun Friday! 🙂
Cute.
These junk modelling butterflies are absolutely adorable! I love how you utilized household materials like cardboard rolls and cake cases to create such vibrant and creative butterfly designs. It’s wonderful to see your child’s imagination and creativity shine through in this simple and fun craft. Well done!