We have a soft spot in our hearts for butterflies.

Family folklore has it that when my grandfather died many years ago the butterflies descended upon his funeral and reclaimed him as one of their own.

Since then, grandpa is legendary for showing up at special family events.

One of the most memorable for me was, as my dad and I were just about to start the walk down the garden aisle to meet Ken at our wedding, there grandpa was, dancing his fluttering dance right in front of us as if to say “I’m always with you.”

In true Rivers fashion, dad and I burst into tears, sobbing in tandem by the time he gave me away - just as the grandpa butterfly made another tear-inducing pass.

Needless to say, butterfly making tends to be a favourite craft at our house and we recently test drove one of the easiest, coolest versions of the perennial CVK butterfly ever.

When I was a kid, one of the funkiest, fun art projects we did on a regular basis was stained glass.

We’d hit the craft store and score those little kid-sized kits full of a metal cast, some plastic for melting and other things that I’m sure now were incredibly toxic, but super fun.

Afternoons would be spent putting the little plastics into VERY SPECIFIC spaces (my brother and I were very fussy colour experts) and throwing them in the oven to do their melty thing.

Love.

So, when I spotted a “stained glass” project in several craft books and web sites recently that also included butterflies, I was totally up for the task. I’d give a source credit. But, we ended up mixing and matching ideas from several places.

This version was a bit more homemade than the craft store version, which is definitely more up the tiny person’s alley. Not to mention we didn’t have to buy anything (other than a thrifted grater) for the project as all of the supplies were already in the house. And, the butterfly thing.

Here’s what you need:

- Waxed Paper
- Crayons for grating
- An old grater that is just for crafting (you’re not going to want to use it for food after)
- An Iron
- A Tracing pen
- Scissors
- A hole punch
- Ribbon or string

Directions:

Tip: I highly recommend hitting the thrift store to pick up an old cheese grater for this project.

1. Tear off two pieces of waxed paper that are the same size. Then, fold one piece in half, take the tracing pen and draw half a butterfly making sure the body is along the fold. Turn the paper over to the side that isn’t drawn on and trace over the lines you can see on the other side to complete your butterfly. You can make them any size, we made pretty big ones.

2. Then peel the crayons down a bit so that you don’t get paper mixed in with the wax. Take the grater and, if you want to get specific colours in certain spots, grate each crayon into a separate bowl. You can also grate directly on to the waxed paper if mixing colours is good for you. Little kids and graters aren’t a good combo. Parents need to do this part.

3. Take the second piece of waxed paper (wax side down) and place it over the top of the piece with the shavings on it.

4. Put your iron on medium (parents only. This is dangerous for kiddos) and touch it lightly to the waxed paper. The crayon shavings should melt quickly. You can play with the colours a bit by moving the iron around. But, the shavings will burn and turn brown if the iron is touched down for more than a few seconds.

5. Let cool for a minute or two. Cut out the butterfly. Punch a whole toward the top. Thread string or ribbon through and hang in a well-lit window.

We seriously couldn’t get over how simple and easy this craft was…and have some mega plans for creating entire “stained glass” murals around here. We even made something special for Popop (my dad) for Father’s Day that will, indeed, melt his heart.