{"title":"How to Make an Egg Carton Butterfly Suncatcher","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/crafts/how-to-make-an-egg-carton-butterfly","category":{"slug":"crafts","name":"Crafts"},"creator":{"name":"Ms. Campbell Teach","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9FAHBnX8vjpN16Pnwc_TJg","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SderUWCJZD0"},"tldr":"Make an egg carton butterfly suncatcher with colored windows and rhinestones. An easy recycled craft for kids and grandkids.","quickAnswer":"Make an egg carton butterfly suncatcher with colored windows and rhinestones. An easy project: about 45 minutes, plus 30 minutes to dry or set. You need 12 things, including cardboard egg carton, acrylic paint and colored acetate sheets. The 9 steps start with gather the Egg Carton Butterfly Supplies, cut a Block of Four Cups From the Egg Carton, cut a Window in Each Egg Carton Cup, paint the Egg Carton Butterfly Wings and glue Rhinestones Onto the Egg Carton Wings.","totalDurationSeconds":301,"videoDurationSeconds":301,"difficulty":"easy","project":{"difficulty":"easy","projectMinutes":45,"waitMinutes":30,"totalMinutes":75,"estimatedCost":null,"yield":"1 butterfly suncatcher"},"tools":["scissors","hot glue gun","craft tweezers","paintbrush"],"materials":["cardboard egg carton","acrylic paint","colored acetate sheets","white school glue","flat back rhinestones","craft stick","yellow pipe cleaner","googly eyes"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Gather the Egg Carton Butterfly Supplies","text":"Lay everything out before you start, so little hands are not waiting. You need a cardboard egg carton, white school glue, paint and brushes, a pipe cleaner, craft sticks and a pack of colored acetate sheets. Add rhinestones, googly eyes, scissors, craft tweezers and a hot glue gun. Cover the table first. Paint and glue get everywhere with young helpers."},{"number":2,"title":"Cut a Block of Four Cups From the Egg Carton","text":"Cut a square block of four joined cups out of the carton, two across and two down. Leave the cardboard between the cups in place so the block holds together. These four cups become the four wings of the butterfly. Trim off any ragged edges around the outside so the wing shape looks neat."},{"number":3,"title":"Cut a Window in Each Egg Carton Cup","text":"Turn the block upside down. Push the scissor tip into the bottom of one cup, then cut out a square or round window. Make it fairly large, since this is where the colored light will shine through. Repeat on all four cups. This part is for a grown-up. Egg carton is tough and the scissors can slip."},{"number":4,"title":"Paint the Egg Carton Butterfly Wings","text":"Paint the whole block, inside and out, in any color you like. Ms. Campbell uses purple, and her little helper mixes in pink. Load the brush well, because egg carton soaks up paint. Get into the corners between the cups. Let it dry before decorating, about 20 minutes for acrylic. Set it on a paper plate while it dries."},{"number":5,"title":"Glue Rhinestones Onto the Egg Carton Wings","text":"Squeeze small dots of white glue on the painted wings. Press a rhinestone onto each dot. Hearts, stars, flowers and round gems all work. This is a good job for small fingers, and craft tweezers help with tiny gems. Cover the outside of the cups as much or as little as you like, then let the glue set."},{"number":6,"title":"Hot Glue a Craft Stick Body to the Butterfly","text":"Turn the butterfly over. Run a line of hot glue down the middle, between the two pairs of cups, and press a craft stick into it. Leave the end of the stick hanging below the wings as a handle. The stick is the butterfly's body and lets you hold it up to the sun. Paint the stick to match if you like."},{"number":7,"title":"Fill the Egg Carton Windows With Colored Acetate","text":"Cut squares of colored acetate a little bigger than each window. Add a thin line of glue around the window inside the cup. Press an acetate square over it with tweezers so it lies flat and covers the hole. Mix the colors: orange, yellow, red, blue. Hold it up to the light to check every window is covered."},{"number":8,"title":"Add Pipe Cleaner Antennae to the Egg Carton Butterfly","text":"Fold a yellow pipe cleaner in half and curl the two ends into little hooks. Put a dot of hot glue at the top of the craft stick, between the top two wings, and press the fold of the pipe cleaner into it. Hold it a few seconds so the antennae stand up straight. Bend them out into a V once the glue sets."},{"number":9,"title":"Stick Googly Eyes on the Egg Carton Butterfly","text":"Put a tiny dot of glue on the top of the stick, right under the antennae. Use tweezers to set two googly eyes in place. Self-adhesive eyes make it even easier for kids. That is the last step. Take your butterfly into the sunshine and watch the colored light it casts on the floor or a wall."}],"commonProblems":[],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-10-30T14:51:48.420Z","published":"2026-10-30T14:51:48.037Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit Show Me Step by Step with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure. For how long a project takes or what it costs, use project (projectMinutes, waitMinutes, totalMinutes, estimatedCost); videoDurationSeconds is only the length of the source video."}