CATCH THE BUTTERFLY

Hello my little cats!

I hope you're well and ready to untie your ten fingers! Let's go for a crazy DIY! I say crazy because I was literally hysterical when I came up with the idea and saw the result! It's times like these when the planets align! This butterfly box is none other than a wine bottle box! And to make it, you'll need a wooden wine crate with a sliding lid - a very important point, otherwise this DIY won't be feasible. To tell you the truth, it was on my way to the famous wine shop Nicolas (this is not a sponso post, eh) to ask him if he had any wine crates like this one he'd like to get rid of, that I discovered that they sold them there in lots of different sizes. JOY. And the good news is that it's really not expensive, and this system is perfect for making 1000 crazy DIYs (I'm preparing one for you to make a light box very soon!). So happy, I went back to the lemonade studio to make a box for naturalized butterflies without having caught a single lepidoptera (thanks Wiki...)!

You'll see, there's nothing complicated about this DIY. It just requires a little patience and attention to detail, and everything will turn out just fine. This butterfly box will be perfect for adorning the walls of your cabinet of curiosities or simply your living room!

For this DIY you'll need :

A wine crate with a sliding lid, in this case for 3 bottles!
featherboard (a 50 x 65 board will do) for the bottom and 4 rectangles to raise the bottom,
off-white Canson© paper,
pins,
download butterflies hereThese are illustrations from the book Papillons d'Europe et du Monde, published by Place des Victoires,
a metal ruler and a scalpel,
green glue,
black wood paint and a paintbrush,
gummed kraft paper and masking tape.
and, of course, clear glass to match the dimensions of your sliding lid. I had mine cut to 4mm thickness at any Leroy Merlin store.

Start by cutting the bottom of the box out of the featherboard. Take the markings from the lid and remove the centimetres corresponding to the parts in the groove of the lid. Once the box is closed, count about 1.5 cm less in the width.

In Canson©, cut the 4 rectangles corresponding to the inside contour of the box, for the height measure the bottom of your box up to the groove and for the length, add 1 cm to form the tongue to join all the contours together.

Pre-fold the tabs, marking the fold with a scalpel. Glue the inside of the box up to the groove and apply the white contours.

Cut 4 rectangles from the featherboard, each 4 cm high. Assemble them into a closed shape using the pins, which you'll prick into the edge of the featherboard. Whatever the final size of the rectangle, it's just there to raise the bottom of your box, otherwise your butterflies might get lost.

Place the "elevator" rectangle in the bottom of the wooden box and place the white featherboard base on top. Start cutting out your butterflies, previously printed on Canson© paper.

Too gorgeous! Of course, you'll need to be precise when cutting out the butterflies, as this will make them look much more realistic! Prick the center of your butterflies with a pin, and don't hesitate to put a small dot of glue on the back to keep the butterfly on the pin, otherwise they'll turn in all directions.

BIM, slide the glass! Not bad, eh? It looks less like a wine crate, but the little notches and the wood are still very distinctive!

Then take your roll of gummed kraft paper, dampen it evenly with a sponge and stick it to the edge of the box to hide the little notches. Do the same on all 4 sides.