Cricut Butterfly Sun Catchers DIY Kids Craft

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Good morning y’all!  Today we are creating Cricut Butterfly Sun Catchers, a perfect Summer craft to complete with the kiddos.  This is an easy project thanks to two of my favorite products, my Cricut Explore Air™ 2 and Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue!

Recycled Plastic Sun Catchers with Cricut

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Here's How to Create Cricut Butterfly Sun Catchers

CUTTING WITH CRICUT:

Open the Cricut Design Space and select Picturesque Butterfly (#M3F6B3).  Enlarge the first image to approximately 10″ wide and 6″ high.  Click duplicate, position the second image under the first image and save.  Click on Make It and make sure that both images fit completely on one mat.  If not, go back, shrink image slightly, save and click Make It again.  Load mat with 12″ by 12″ black cardstock.  Load the mat into the Cricut Explore Air 2 then follow the prompts and cut two images. Gently remove the cut image by peeling back the mat and lifting gently with the Spatula.  If you peel the cardstock from the mat, it will bend and crease. Repeat the above steps with Paper Lace Butterfly (#M454E1), isolating just the top layer of the cut file.  

EMBELLISHING BUTTERFLY:

Trace each butterfly onto separate sheets of plain white paper using a MONO J Drawing Pencil F grade. Place a 10″ by 6″ piece of plastic on top. My plastic is recycled packaging that I have hoarded saved, but Transparency Sheets would work as well.

For the first butterfly, I selected a Monarch Butterfly inspired an orange color palette of Dual Brush Pens 905 Red, 925 Scarlet, 933 Orange, and 985 Chrome Yellow.

Moving from darkest to lightest, scribble on the plastic in a random fashion, overlapping colors slightly. Squeeze out a quarter size dollop of MONO Aqua Liquid Glue onto the palette from the Blending Kit and gently apply to the plastic using a single stroke (with an old paintbrush).  Pick up more MONO Aqua and apply additional strokes until all exposed areas are filled.  The MONO Aqua blends the Dual Brush Pen colors on the plastic in a stained glass effect. Let dry and apply additional layers until you are pleased with the depth of color.

The second butterfly has a more intricate pattern, so apply the MONO Aqua Liquid Glue directly to the plastic with a clean paintbrush and allow to dry. Using the Dual Brush Pen Bright Set, individually color each section of the butterfly a different rainbow inspired shade.  Gently apply a top coat of MONO Aqua Liquid Glue.  Make sure to clean your brush often to prevent the colors from blending too much and becoming muddy.

FINISHING SUN CATCHERS:

Roughly cut out the colored plastic with scissors, making sure that none is exposed around the edges of the butterfly images.

Carefully apply a thin bead of MONO Aqua Liquid Glue around all of the cutouts on the back of the first butterfly image.  Place the rough cut plastic on top.  Then apply additional MONO Aqua on the plastic. Flip the second layer of the first butterfly image over and attach, so that you have a mirror image and all of the cutouts match up.  Repeat the above steps with the second butterfly image.  Set aside to let the glue dry.

Once dry, punch a small hole at the top of each butterfly with a Hole Punch.  String Black Ribbon or Black Twine through the hole and tie to make a loop.  Hang with a suction cup in a bright window or on a sliding glass door.

Here is a detail of the stained glass effect – Rainbow Butterfly

Here is a detail of the stained glass effect – Monarch Butterfly

Butterfly Sun Catchers Created with Cricut

I hope that you will be inspired to create Cricut Butterfly Sun Catchers with YOUR Cricut Explore Air 2. It’s a quick and easy project that would be fun to complete with the kiddos when they announce this Summer – “I'M BORED!”!

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Sharing is Caring! If you LOVE it then Please PIN it!

Too busy to make these Butterfly Sun Catchers Created with Cricut right now? Pin it for later!  I’d love for you to pin this project to your favorite craft board on Pinterest and then it’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready.

Thanks for stopping by!