My little girl absolutely loves to put on a pair of wings and dress up a fairy or a butterfly, but the wings we have which are made from the same material as nylon stockings have ripped in places and shed glitter like there's no tomorrow! I decided to make a custom pair of wings at home, using home pressed flowers (in the microwave!) and contact paper - which give more of a natural, iridescent 'flutter', look incredibly delicate and so beautiful and personalised....

(Blog originally published April 2020)

transparent fairy butterfly wings made with tacky back plastic and pressed flowers

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The best thing is that the lead up to making these links into some special experiences - you can forage in your garden for leaves, flowers and petals...or whilst out on your walk. We included some tête-à-tête daffodils that the children picked for me whilst I was poorly in quarantine to cheer me up and make me feel better, some tulips we had before lockdown and some cherry blossom flowers collected from a daily walk (also my favourite tree!). This activity is perfect for learning and teaching symmetry, discussing differences and changes, noticing patterns and details, following instructions and role play....

How to make Fairy Butterfly Wings with Pressed Flowers

child in fairy dress wearing fairy wings made with contact paper and dried pressed flowers

First of all, you will need to collect some foliage and flowers to add to your wings. This will make your wings much more special as they will tie into some lovely memories if you can make this purposeful. If this isn't possible, they you can of course order some pressed flowers here.

Would you like to skip straight to the video of how to make the wings?

link here: https://youtu.be/aSy5Y72brFE

What products and resources do you need to make fairy butterfly wings?

Aside from the pressed flowers mentioned above, you will also need:

Contact or tacky back paper
Glue gun
Clear glue sticks
Glitter glue sticks (optional)
Scissors
Blu-tack
fine permanent marker pen
elastic string
a stick (we used one we found)
Kitchen roll
ribbon (optional)

How to press and dry flowers quickly in the microwave:

a stalk of cherry blosson flatlay on a table with scissors and kitchen paper

Cut the flowers from the twigs, or remove the petals and lay them on a piece of kitchen roll. Cover with another layer of kitchen roll and place a microwaveable dish on top to flatten them down....

pressing and drying flowers in the microwave with kitchen roll

Place in the microwave (under the dish) for 30 seconds. Remove and check that the petals are not sticking too much to the kitchen paper. Replace the paper if needed. Repeat for another 30 seconds...

If the flowers are now flat but still very wet, you can remove the top layer and give them a few more seconds to help dry them out. Don't over cook them though!

Leave them out in the air for a little while to cool down and dry out fully...

pressed cherry blossom and daffodils on wooden table

Now your pressed flowers and petals are ready to be used to make your fairy wings!

natural wooden tray table with dried flowers on top

How to make the fairy butterfly wings using contact paper and pressed flowers:

If you would like to see how to use your pressed flowers to make your fairy butterfly wings, have a watch of my video demonstration here: https://youtu.be/aSy5Y72brFE

(The video is only 4 minutes long, but demonstrates how to make the fairy wings with contact paper quickly and easily - please like the video and subscribe to my channel)

Fairy butterfly wings in action:

Here are some images of Charlotte wearing her fairy wings - we later added an extra ribbon to tie around her waist top help keep the wings in place as she flew around!

girl wearing transparent fairy wings made with pressed dried flowers

girl wearing DIY fairy butterfly wings made with tacky back plastic and flowers

girl wearing home made fairy wings using pressed flowers and contact paper

As you can see, these fairy wings are absolutely gorgeous, and it is a lovely activity for you to do alongside your child, leaving you with a keepsake that you can keep, use and remember. This is a great one for learning all about symmetry in a fun and purposeful way - but don't worry too much if your child doesn't want to make their wings symmetrical... the process of making these butterfly wings still includes a lot of important learning opportunities even if your child is not yet ready for symmetry.

Here are some of the learning opportunities included within this activity:

Symmetry
noticing differences and changes
learning about the natural world
naming and identifying plants and flowers - understanding the world
discussing transparent and opaque
following instructions - listening and attention
fine motor skills handling the plants and flowers
making relationship by working together
mathematical concepts with shape, space and measures
exploring and using media and materials creatively and for a purpose
introducing new vocabulary:

Vocabulary for making fairy butterfly wings:

flowers / plants / stalk / stem / petals / leaves
soft / crispy / dry / sticky
delicate / fragile
transparent / opaque
stretchy
flutter / flap / fly
press / rub / push down / pat
cut / trim / snip
glue / stick / tie
round / curved / straight
symmetrical
butterfly / fairy

www.Arthurwears.com

If you have a go of this yourself, I'd love to see! Tag me on Instagram (@arthurwears) or join my private Facebook group and share your photos in there.

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Love Sarah xx