Yarn Butterflies Craft

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Cute and easy yarn butterflies are fun craft to make and cute to decorate with. All you need is yarn, pipe cleaners and a plastic lacing needle. Wrap the yarn around your fingers, secure it with a pipe cleaner and you’ve made these adorable little butterflies!

Yarn butterflies on a string on blue background

My girls are obsessed with butterflies and love to create using yarn. That’s why these adorable yarn butterflies are the perfect kids craft for them. Plus, they can turn it into a garlands which are the perfect butterfly decorations for their room. We make these yarn butterflies and pony bead butterflies too!

Simply make a butterfly with your favorite color of yarn by weaving it in a figure 8 around your fingers then secure it with a pipe cleaner.

It’s your choice if you thread yarn through each butterfly and turn it into an adorable butterfly garland that can be display in your house as decorations.

Try this easy yarn craft today!

Overhead image of Yarn Butterflies Supplies

Table of Contents

Supplies Needed

Piece of purple yarn on marble background

Make the Yarn Butterfly

Cut your pipe cleaner in half and set it aside.
Cut a seven-foot piece of the yarn.
While holding onto one end of the string, start by placing the yarn between your middle and ring finger. Loop it through the ring finger and pointer finger, then bring it around the pointer finger. Go back around through the pointer finger and ring finger and then back up between your middle finger and ring finger to create a figure-eight of yarn around your pointer finger and middle finger.
Once you have your figure eight around your fingers, you’re going to start wrapping the string around the outside of the pointer and ring finger over and over again until you run out of yarn.

Sticking pipe cleaner in yarn for butterfly

Make the Butterfly Attenaes

Stick the pipe cleaner through your fingers on the bottom half of the yarn bunch, bring the two ends together at the top and give them a nice tight twist. Trim the pipe cleaners if they are too long.
Carefully slide the yarn off your fingers and fluff the yarn out to create the wings. Repeat this as many times as you would like to make your collection of butterflies.

Threading a plastic knitting needle through yarn butterfly

Optional Butterfly Garland

Cut a string of yarn as long as you would like for your garland. Tie one end of the yarn to the needle. Stick the needle through the center of the butterfly and move it to where you would like it on your garland strand, then stick the needle through the butterfly again, creating a loop around the back to prevent them from flipping over.
Repeat this with all of your butterflies. Tie two small loops at the end of the yarn and hang up your garland with those loops.

FAQs

Where do I find the plastic lacing needle?

You can get them at your local craft store or on Amazon.

Is there anything else you can use in place of the lacing needing to string them up?

You can make your needle by cutting a pipe cleaner in half, then creating a small loop at on end of the pipe cleaner and twisting it close. Tie your string to the loop and use the other end like the point of your needle.

What else can I use these butterflies for?

You can use these for some fun kid’s jewelry, pencil toppers, or you can glue them onto hair clips.

What’s the point of wrapping the yarn in figure-eight before wrapping it around the outside?

This will help the yarn from unwrapping as you make your butterflies wings.

MORE EASY KIDS CRAFTS!

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With only a few supplies you can create this adorable Coffee Filter Butterfly Craft! Your kids will have so much fun making this butterfly craft and it’s so quick and easy with minimal prep and cleanup.
Learn how to make this bright and fun Kool-Aid Oobleck! The kids love this project because sometimes it’s liquid, sometimes it’s solid, but it’s always a blast to play with.
This Rainbow Craft is a super simple craft that can be made with construction paper, glue, scissors and a black marker.

If you take a picture of your coffee filter butterflies and share them on Instagram make sure to #kidsactivityzone or tag us @kidsactivityzoneblog so we can see them!

Yarn Butterflies Craft

Quick and easy craft! These adorable yarn butterflies are so fun to make and cute to display.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 5

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Cut your pipe cleaner in half and set it aside.
Cut a seven-foot piece of the yarn.
While holding onto one end of the string, start by placing the yarn between your middle and ring finger. Loop it through the ring finger and pointer finger, then bring it around the pointer finger. Go back around through the pointer finger and ring finger and then back up between your middle finger and ring finger to create a figure-eight of yarn around your pointer finger and middle finger.
Once you have your figure eight around your fingers, you're going to start wrapping the string around the outside of the pointer and ring finger over and over again until you run out of yarn.
Stick the pipe cleaner through your fingers on the bottom half of the yarn bunch, bring the two ends together at the top and give them a nice tight twist. Trim the pipe cleaners if they are too long.
Carefully slide the yarn off your fingers and fluff the yarn out to create the wings. Repeat this as many times as you would like to make your collection of butterflies.
Cut a string of yarn as long as you would like for your garland. Tie one end of the yarn to the needle. Stick the needle through the center of the butterfly and move it to where you would like it on your garland strand, then stick the needle through the butterfly again, creating a loop around the back to prevent them from flipping over.
Repeat this with all of your butterflies. Tie two small loops at the end of the
yarn and hang up your garland with those loops.