DIY Butterflies Display – A Guide

A few years ago I got it into my head that it would be a good idea to order dried butterflies, mount and frame them myself. I have no idea why, other than the fact that I can’t stand spending money on anything that looks easy to do yourself. This used to include painting rooms, but fortunately, I’ve gotten over that.

Anyway, I had seen some beautifully framed butterflies in a catalog, fallen in love and then freaked at the $200 price tag. So I decided to go for it and do it myself.

I found a great website called Insect World. They carry just about every insect in the world – including mosquitoes. After much searching, I chose some colorful beauties that were very reasonably priced and ordered a bunch, including some simple supplies.

I’ll cut to the chase right here and tell you that mounting them was a lot easier than I thought and the results were as beautiful as I had hoped. And for far less money than in the catalog.

I won’t go into all the How-To’s here because Butterflies and Things does a much better job of explaining things than I can. Here are the basics. Butterflies prices vary according to rarity and quality. Most are very inexpensive. The most expensive one I bought was $8.00. Most were $1.00 – $3.00. Order a few more than you need because you’ll probably ruin a couple in the mounting process.

The butterflies come dried. You have to relax them in a jar or plastic container for a couple of days. Next, you spread the wings on a mounting board (I used foam core) and secure them with strips of index cards and pins. They sit like that for another couple of days. Then they’re ready for framing. I bought shadow-boxed frames from IKEA, lined them with fabric-covered foam core, and pinned the butterflies inside. Again, go to the link above for specific illustrated instructions.

It was kind of fun. And it was so inexpensive that I was able to cover an entire area for less than the price of just one piece from the catalog. Both Butterflies and Things and Insect World sell butterflies, which are listed by their Latin names, so you’ll need to take your time finding the ones you like. To start you on your way, here’s a list of the butterflies shown above.

• Ornithoptera priamus poseidon (green bird wing)
• Graphium dorcus ventus (black & white swallowtail)
• Delias hyparete hyparete (white with orange tips)
• Appias nero figulina (orange)
• Morpho patroclus orestes (blue)
• Heliconius melpomene melpomene (brown with orange)
• Chorinea sylphina (white with red swallowtail)
• Tro. oblong oblongomaculatus (black with yellow)
• O croesus lydius, Halmaher (white bird wing)

If you’re a little creeped out by bugs, this project will cure you. It’s also something you can do with your children. They’ll have fun checking out the giant beetle assortment at Insect World.

Don’t forget to tell me if you think this project is something you would think of doing, or if the bug factor is too icky to bear.