Creative Summer Coffee Filter Butterfly

Coffee Filter Butterfly Craft-Coffee filter coloring is a lot of fun to do. You can have the kids pick any colors they want to make their butterfly.

You will need:

• coffee filters (one for every butterfly you are making)
• washable markers
• squirt bottle or small glass of water
• pipe cleaner

Instructions for the project: Completely flatten out a coffee filter on a plate. Scribble on the filter with washable markers. Use a squirt bottle to spray the coffee filter 2 or 3 times. It will work well to squirt right in the center of the filter and then sit and watch the water wick the colors over the filter (this usually takes 4 or 5 minutes). It is important to keep in mind that young children will tend to over wet the filter, while the project still works, it will not turn out quite as pretty (the colors tend to blend too much if you soak the filter) To help prevent this you may wan to encourage them to squirt it just once in the middle and watch for a bit for so they can see the process unfold. You can always add more water later if it does not get wet all the way to the edge after 5 minutes or so. Let dry completely (this can take about 1/2 an hour, but will take longer if the filter has been soaked by an over-zealous crafter!) Scrunch the coffee filter up so you can wrap a pipe cleaner around the center. Twist the pipe cleaner to hold the coffee filter very tightly. You should leave the ends of the pipe cleaner about the same length. Carefully trim the pipe cleaner as you like so that the antenna are the length you like and the pipe cleaner ends are matching lengths. Curl the pipe cleaner to make nice antenna. Gently fluff the wings a little bit to make a perfectly lovely little butterfly!

Ideas for Displaying Your Butterfly:

• You can hang your creation in the window for the light to shine through or in a group from the ceiling.
• You can attach a few butterflies together to make a springtime butterfly mobile.
• You can also attach them to home made greeting cards or gifts for an extra special touch.