Plan C

... aka it's time to abandon this wreath idea. 

Plan A

What I planned on doing in March 2024 was to make a Spring wreath featuring butterflies. I figured it would be a quick little project using supplies on hand. I gathered:

Flowers

Materials for the scrap paper butterflies I made in April 2024

A black "bicycle wheel" wreath form

Pop dot adhesives

Baby clothespins

Spray paint

The inspiration was:

I set to work: 

First I spray-painted the wreath form silver.

Then dry-fit the butterflies I had on hand in place. My vision was to have butterflies in lots of colors and patterns and in various sizes. Super cute. 

But I abandoned the idea of using the scrap paper butterflies because making them was fiddly and it took too long to make a good-looking finished product. I couldn't imagine making over a dozen of them, especially since that meant engineering three sizes of butterfly templates. After all, this was supposed to be a fast craft.

So I mulled the project over.

Plan B

I purchased 4 packages (4 designs) of iridescent butterflies in early April 2024.

Then the project sat for a year. I couldn't figure out how to proceed. 

:: play Jeopardy music here ::

With Jodie's help last week (over a year later), I decided to try sandwiching pop dots between the clothespins and the butterflies. We clipped 3 different sizes of butterflies in 4 different designs to the wreath form in an "artistic" formation.

Man, that just didn't work. 

• First, the wreath form should have been a different color than the butterflies. Everything was visually jumbled.
  
  
• Second, the proportions were all out of whack.
  
  
• Third, the butterflies kept "flying" off the wire wreath form when the clothespins didn't get a good grip. 

My frustration was real. I didn't even bother to take a picture.

Time to mull this project over again.

Plan C

This morning I decided life is too short to bang my head against this particular wall. BUT!

Maybe the butterflies will be a sweet addition to my bedroom wall:

The pop dots easily came off the clothespins and attached to the wall. 

The entire installation and putting extra supplies away took all of 15 minutes. 

Depending on the time of day and how the light comes through the window, the butterflies show off their various colors. As their shadows move throughout the day, the butterflies appear to fly.

It's time to get inspired and work on a different project. 

My brain weighs less now that the butterflies are off my mind.

Seasonal Change

As I moved out of July, the stars, stripes, red, white and blue decorations came down. In August and September, sunflowers reign.

So I pulled out my supplies on hand. I decided to use these:

along with this wreath form that just didn't work for my butterfly wreath idea.

I edited out using these elements of stickers and ribbons and signage. They'll grace a future sunflower or Autumn project.

I turned the supplies into a sweet and simple Sunflower Wreath. 

It's hanging in our entryway, to be a spot of joy as we leave the house.