Painted Newspaper Butterflies
Walking around in spring it is exciting to notice the flutter of butterfly wings appearing after winter. This week’s Garden Art project is to make painted newspaper butterflies! Newspaper is an easy medium to work with and the thin paper makes for a lovely butterfly wing.
1. Cut a section of newspaper into a large rectangle.
2. Use acrylic paint mix and overlap any five colors of your choice.
3. Paint swatches of color to cover the newspaper. (*make sure not to use too much water with your paint or the thin paper can tear)
4. Let the newspaper dry.
5. Cut the newspaper into several small 3” or 4” squares.
6. Choose two of the squares to make a paper butterfly.
7. Fold each square of painted newspaper on the diagonal in an accordion fold. (An accordion fold is when you flip the paper back and forth as you fold alternating sides, this fold will make your wings pop out a little bit and give them a nice form).
8. Pinch each square in the middle and wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle of the two squares to attach them.
9. Fan out the wings and bend them down or up a little bit if needed.
10. Cut the pipe cleaner ends shorter to make antennae.
11. Repeat steps 1-9 to create several different butterflies Here are some quotes from a good article written on the Alaska Fish and Wildlife website. Written by Sabrina Farmer (she is doing a workshop for us later next month).
Here are some quotes from a good article written on the Alaska Fish and Wildlife website about pollinators: "Did you know Alaska’s various butterfly species overwinter in all the different phases of their lifecycle? A quick refresher: butterflies grow from an egg, into a larva (caterpillar), a chrysalis (hard-shelled pupa), and finally to a 4-winged fluttery butterfly." -Fall Leaves and Winter Queens Survival and death in a winter wonderland by Sabrina Farmer
"The small, charismatic Alaskan blue (Plebejus idas alaskensis) winters as an egg on a variety of plants such as Labrador tea and lupine. When the weather warms in the spring, it undergoes the metamorphosis to become a butterfly. Though guidebooks describe the Alaskan blue as “not a particularly strong flier”, it is widespread across the state."
"Fritillary species (Boloria spp.) are found across Alaska and share the common trait of hibernating as larvae. Some are known to use flower species such as violets and dryas as winter hosts, while others use willows."
"Canadian tiger swallowtails (Papilio canadensis) inhabit the boreal forest and spend the long winter months as chrysalises in trees including aspen, ash, and willow."
"Mourning cloaks (Nymphalis antiopa) survive winter as adult butterflies nestled in willows across much of the state. They are some of the earliest butterflies seen each year, ready to fly in the warm spring sun.”
https://www.fws.gov/story/fall-leaves-and-winter-queen