Snugglebug University: Painted & Embroidered Butterflies

UPDATE:If you'd like to purchase some of these felt butterflies to make your own shadow box, I've listed some of these in my ETSY shop here.

Those of you who have been following me on Instagram know that I'm totally smitten with butterflies right now. We were able to go to two butterfly exhibits recently--one at the California Academy of Sciences and the other on our trip to Vancouver Island. Since then I've been really enjoying painting some of the butterflies that we were able to see! Here are just a few of the pictures I've shared on Instagram lately...

I've transformed my painted butterflies into embroidered felt beauties, and I'm really excited to share the details with you today.

But first though, how about a "finished" picture to share? I love the way my butterfly projects look hanging up in our family room now! The feel like the perfect "souvenir" from our trip.

This project came about with a good amount of trial and error. I knew that I wanted to make a shadow box, but I wasn't quite sure how to paint the butterflies. I tried painting on the felt directly, but ultimately I wasn't too thrilled with how they turned out. I found a good solution though!

Let me tell you how this project came together:

Ultimately I ended up having my painted on paper butterflies printed directly on 3mm felt. I was really excited by this...It's so neat to be able to actually transfer my butteflies directly to the fabric. And since the felt is so stiff, it's really great for a butterfly shadowbox. The butterflies would be great for a mobile or headband too!

After I cut out my butterflies, it was as simple as adding a bit of embroidery to embellish them.