I bought this Martha Stewart butterfly punch with a 40% off coupon over two years ago when I was putting the finishing touches on Della’s room.

IMG_9891 

Since then, I have used it to make a butterfly mobile, a wreath, some framed butterfly art, and, now, this bit of paint chip wall art for the twins’ room.

IMG_0084

I’d say that I’ve already gotten my $9’s worth, for sure (and I already have at least one more project in mind).

Today, I thought I’d show you the (simple) process for making the DIY butterfly art in Evy’s and Nola’s room. It’s incredibly easy, extremely cheap, and it packs a big, um, punch (groan).

My favorite kind of project!

Here’s what you’ll need to make a some paint chip punch art of your own:

IMG_9891IMG_9892IMG_9916 

  • A punch with your choice of design (obviously, you wouldn’t have to stick with butterflies)
  • Paint chips (my punch is approximately 1 1/2” squared, and I chose the chips with 4 different colors on one strip; they were just the tiniest bit too narrow, but I made it work)
  • Printer paper or poster board (I used 12 sheets of 8 1/2” X 11” printer paper)
  • Tape measure
  • Tape
  • Glue dots (you could use something else, but these worked so well for me)
  • Painter’s tape
  • Hat pin (not shown)

::STEP 1::

Punch out a whole mess of paint chips. I used three different shades of aqua + some white from some textured wallpaper that I already had and ended up with:

  • 6 white
  • 9 light aqua
  • 13 medium aqua
  • 27 dark aqua

IMG_0093

::STEP 2:

Tape your printer paper together.

IMG_9894

::STEP 3::

Using your pencil and tape measure, start making a grid, with the first dot beginning in the bottom left corner of your paper. (Mine was about 4” from the left edge and 2” from the bottom edge).

After I made my first dot, I used my tape measure to make more dots every 3 inches.

IMG_9908

Each row has one more dot than the row before it. So, the first row has one dot, the second has two, the third, three…and so on and so forth (my last row had 10 dots).

I chose to stagger my dots, so my process basically went: measure up 3”, then over 1 1/2” (since that’s half of 3 and would place that dot in between the ones in the row below it) and the proceed with my usual 3” spacing.

IMG_9906

Note: I used the 3” guide for both vertical and horizontal spacing.

Here’s a shot of the finished, staggered grid.

IMG_9910

You might want to play around with your butterfly configuration to make sure you like it before you secure anything with your glue dots.

IMG_9913

::STEP 4::

Tape your grid to the wall with painter’s tape

IMG_9921

::STEP 5::

Poke a hole in each one of your pencil marks through the paper into the wall

Make a pencil mark through the paper onto the wall behind it

  Take the paper off, and put a glue dot on top of each pencil mark on the wall

IMG_9923IMG_9924IMG_9928

:STEP 6:

Place a butterfly on top of each glue dot, making sure to bend the wings in on each other so that they don’t lie flat against the wall.

IMG_0146         

::STEP 7::

{Optional}

If, like me, you find that your wedge grid is a bit too symmetrical or severe, stick a bunch more butterflies all over the wall in random clusters until you achieve an effect you like.

IMG_0029

I plan to play around with filling in the gaps a little more, but for now, I’m happy with the impression of a flock of butterflies moving in formation, surrounded by a fluttering parade of their friends.

IMG_0084

It was completely unintentional, but it ended up almost looking like a heart. And what’s not to love about that?

P.S. You’ve probably already figured this out, but I added a hovering Pin-it button. Just place your cursor over any picture that you’d like to pin and then click the big red “P” that pops up and pin away to your heart’s content!

Funky Junk

Tatertots and Jello

Home Stories A to Z 

Lil Luna

It’s Overflowing

I Heart Naptime

House of Hepworths

 

9 Comments

  1. This turned out just adorable! I love the ombre w/ the paint chips and the butterfly punch! I don’t think I would have been patient enough for the grid, but it really makes the spacing look great. And what a fantastic & cheap way to decorate a wall 🙂

  2. Such a cute project, love the punch and love the formation of butterflies, You have to tell us how to get the hovering Pinterest button!

    Carol

I love hearing from you guys!