Upcycled Butterfly Craft

Learn how to make the cutest Upcycled Butterfly Craft- using a milk jug! A perfect craft for kids AND adults!

This cute Butterfly craft is just so cool that kids and adults alike will want to make their own! Extra bonus points because we are upcycling a milk carton to make these! The rest of the supplies you probably already have on hand!

Supplies to make a butterfly craft

empty milk jug -rinsed out
paint or markers
glitter glue (optional)
scissors
utility knife
butterfly printables/patterns

Click here to see more upcycled craft ideas

Upcycled Butterfly Craft Instructions

Step 1

Trace out the butterfly. You can free-hand these if you want but I do have some free printables here!

I printed them at all different sizes- 8×10 5×7 etc because I wanted to have various sizes. The placement is important. You want to place your stencil or design so the body of the butterfly is right on the corner of the milk jug. This makes it so the wings are the perfect shape to create a butterfly.

I tried to utilize the milk jug and place butterflies in any extra space.

Step 2: cutting out the butterfly

The milk carton is hard to start- I found it’s the easiest to out if you pop a little hole with a utility knife. Then you can slip the scissors in and just cut around! Kids can help if they are a little older.

I cut out around the butterfly and then once it was off the milk jug, I was able to cut out all the little details.

You can do dragonflies as well!

Coloring in the butterfly

You decorate these butterflies in a variety of ways depending on age and what supplies you have on hand! I like to outline the butterfly in black so it looks like a real butterfly. I just placed the butterfly printable enough and traced right over it. You can use a marker or paint to decorate these. I preferred sharpie because it just holds up better than a washable marker.

After the black dries, it’s time to start adding in color and designs!

The milk carton is a little translucent so you can color in the back side to make the colors bright!

Like I mentioned earlier- you can use paint OR markers! I hung some in the window and I liked the look of the marker in the window better than the paint. It look more like a suncatcher!

You can get fancy and add a little glitter or jewels!

Make sure to check these adorable nature crafts!

You can pop a hole in the butterfly and hand them up like a mobile, Stick them to your window like a suncatcher, or place on your wall so the butterflies look like they are flying up! And they permanently have the butterfly shape thanks to the milk carton!

Too busy to get crafting today? No problem! Pin this post to remind yourself about this project later! Sharing my projects helps me reach more people, allowing me to continue sharing free content!