Updated on May 3, 2024
Butterfly Mobile. Make this beautiful shimmering butterfly mobile using Plaid Dragonfly Glaze paint, paper butterflies, and a metal hoop.
If you have been around the blog long you know how much I love butterflies. I have been wanting to create a butterfly mobile for my craft room for a while now.
I am teaming up with Plaid to show you how to create a beautiful and shimmering butterfly mobile using Plaid’s new FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze paint.
Thank you to Plaid Enterprises, Inc. for sponsoring this post and providing some of the products for this post.
How to Make a Butterfly Mobile
Supplies:
- Butterfly Wall Decals
- FolkArt Multi-Surface Paints
- FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze – Gold, Red, Violet Shift
- FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze – Violet, Blue, Green Shift
- FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze – Green, Gold, Red Shift
- Paintbrush
- Clear Fishing Line
- 12″ Metal Ring
- Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
- White and Gold Baker’s Twine
I purchased some butterfly wall decals from Amazon. There are 72 butterflies included in three different styles and three different sizes for each style. They are a bit shiny, so the multi-surface paint is the best to use for this type of surface.
Paint Butterflies With FolkArt Multi-surface Paint
Start by giving each butterfly a light coat of paint.
Lift up the butterfly using a spatula tool or a plastic knife. Do not allow the butterfly to dry where you are painting it. If you do, all the little holes in the pattern will be filled with paint and there will be excess paint around the edges.
Hold the butterfly by the edge and use the paintbrush to remove any excess paint that remains in the holes.
Allow it to dry and apply a second coat. Repeat this process on the other side.
RELATED: More Butterfly Crafts
I used six colors of FolkArt Multi-Surface Paint – Baby Pink, Fire Coral, Pale Yellow, Fresh Foliage, Ocean View, and Light Lavender. I chose these so I would have a rainbow of pastel colors as my base coat for each butterfly.
Paint Butterflies with FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze
After both sides are painted and dry, it is time to add the FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze. This multi-surface formula with a shimmering finish can be used over both light and dark base colors.
I chose to use three different color shifts for my butterflies. I used gold-red-violet for the pink and coral butterflies, green-gold-red for the yellow and green butterflies, and violet-blue-green for the teal and purple butterflies. It also comes in red-violet-blue, blue-green-gold, and full spectrum shifts.
The finishes below have one (the right) and two (the left) coats. The colors shift depending on the angle you view your finished project from.
Use your paintbrush to apply an even coat of the FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze over each butterfly. Allow it to dry for 2 hours, and then apply a second coat.
Repeat this process on the other side of the butterfly. Allow the FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze to cure for 24 hours.
Once your butterflies are painted and dry it is time to assemble the mobile. I am not a huge fan of tying knots, so I opted to assemble almost everything using my hot glue gun. You could also use knots to attach each strand of butterflies to the metal ring.
I planned out how I wanted my butterflies arranged. I wanted six strands of butterflies – four with six butterflies and two with three butterflies.
Use Fishing Line to Assemble Mobile
I also wanted one strand of butterflies in the middle of the mobile. To do this, I tied three intersecting lines of fishing line evenly spaced around the ring. I tied the row of butterflies to the middle of the mobile.
Measure out a length of the fishing line. String the fishing line through the hole at the top of the butterfly and position it on the strand of the fishing line. Use a small dot of hot glue on the top of the butterfly to secure the fishing line for each butterfly.
Repeat this for all six strands of butterflies. Evenly space the six strands around the metal hoop and secure each one with a small dot of hot glue.
Use more fishing lines, ribbons, or baker’s twine to create a hanger for the top of the mobile. Tie three strands of your desired material (I used baker’s twine) at even intervals around your hoop. Grab them all together at the top and knot them together.
I love how the butterflies shimmer and shine with the FolkArt Dragonfly Glaze but you can still see the colors underneath. Depending on the light, the color changes as you look at the mobile.
More about Dragonfly Glaze:
- Multi-surface formula
- Shimmering finish
- Can be used over light and dark base colors
- Available in 2 oz bottles
- Waterbased, non-toxic
- Made in the USA
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