Am I the only one who thinks of Will Ferell’s Robert Goulet impression from SNL whenever I hear the word nature? Yes? Anyway, sometimes a little toddler discovery turns into a ten second project (free & fast = my jam) and it makes me smile enough to want to share the goods, so here they are. We’ll call this a tiny Friday update in the name of some “all-natural” fun. As many of you know, much like ceramic animals, outdoorsy things make my heart go pitter-patter (I’m a sucker for a framed sea fan or a collection of nature-ish vacation finds in labeled jars from each trip we’ve taken). So when Clara and I were playing outside and we found a butterfly just resting on the ground, it was nothing short of amazing (Clara said “the orange and blue part” was her favorite – that’s how close she looked).
And then I realized that gal wasn’t among the living anymore. So sad!
But she was too beautiful to leave out there in the grass, so I carefully scooped her up and decided to bring her inside so we could hopefully enjoy her beauty every day. I thought about putting her in a shadow box but we already have a faux butterfly shadowbox…
… that we made from a butterfly flyer at an exhibit we went to (more on that here).
So I decided to let her be just as nature intended, and “parked” her (or maybe it’s a him? aren’t the guys the colorful ones in nature?) on a piece of coral from a vacation a few years back.
Yup, just like that he landed there and decided to hang out with us in the dining room.
Is that weird? Clara loves looking at “her butterfly” (she knows we can wave, but there’s no petting allowed).
I do wonder if we should do anything to “preserve” the butterfly from eventually turning into dust or something (or getting coated with dust – although I wonder if a quick hair-drying on cool would work from time to time?). Does anyone know what they do when they make shadowboxes with real ones? Are they sprayed with some sort of varnish? Or treated in some other way to keep them looking bright and life-like? I wonder if I could track something down and give ours a little protective (and dustable) shell? Ooh, or what about putting one of our glass domes over the whole shebang (as seen in this old Halloween post) to solve the dust problem?
And since it’s Friday, what are you guys doing this weekend? Any fun plans? We have a crazy overdue dining room update along with some basement stuff on the agenda (as well as a bathroom makeover we’re planning to tackle for John’s grandma in little while), so we’ll be back with a lot of those details next week. Happy Friday y’all!
Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner, so click here to see if it’s you.
Karina says
I just wanted to remind you that you guys have a huge influence on your readers out there. Please keep in mind that this post may encourage others to collect butterflies which may not be dead yet :(!
YoungHouseLove says
I hope it encourages people to enjoy the beauty of nature and not murder a single butterfly :)
xo,
s
Jessica says
This is what I think of when I hear “nature”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3JodBR-vs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I was wondering how to preserve butterflies myself, so this post was helpful!
Deb says
I have a collection of 15 beautiful butterflies in a two-side glass frame that I got in a market in Peru when I was a child. I picked out each butterfly that I wanted, and they glued them in the frame for me. I’ve opened the frame a few times over the years,(to get a closer look I guess?!)so it comes apart and isn’t super sealed or anything. After about 32 years, they still look pristine. Maybe the trick is to seal your butterfly in a glass frame so the air doesn’t get at it? It is a lovely one! You have also just given me an idea for my own project – repaint the frame black (it’s wood now, and a bit beaten up) and display my butterflies! (they are sitting in a stack with other un-hung artwork at the moment).
Heather says
You are definitely not the only one who channels Robert Goulet every time you hear (or say) the word ‘nature.’ I do as well!
Jen says
My boyfriend used to be a bug collector. He said, as long as you keep it under glass (to keep the dust off) it’ll stay as it is forever. Butterfly wings are like leaves, though, once they dry and you touch them, they will crumble in your hand.
Bernadette @ B3HD says
Still in love with the faux version of the butterfly shadowbox ya’ll did. The real one, gorgeous as it is, maybe under glass I could do it, but more and more I’m thinking I couldn’t.
Whitney says
She/he is so beautiful… love that Clara has such curiosity! I found a dead one exactly like it by our pool in NC and she is now preserved in a shadow box, so sad she met her demise, but we are lucky to look at their beauty up close!
Tracey says
Hey guys,
I was just on line and came across a kid’s book called Clara Caterpillar. You may already have it, but thought after Friday’s post she might enjoy it.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s post. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
YoungHouseLove says
No way- love it! Thanks for the tip Tracey!
xo,
s
Jaclyn says
You just reminded me…
I had a pet Monarch butterfly for three days when I was a little girl. I found it outside, alive but not flying away. In the evening I would carefully put it inside one of those red tulips with the yellow centres, and the petals would close around it overnight keeping it safe. During the day, I’d bring it inside and put it on a bunch of flowers on the windowsill. On the third day I went out to my tulip in the morning and the butterfly was gone. I think I thought it was a fairy. I was very sad that it left, but figured that I helped it get better and it was time for it to go home to its mum and dad. True story.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
YoungHouseLove says
So cute!!!
xo
s
bonnie says
This is awful but we actually have a little dead bat that our daughter found on a tree at a local park. It seemed to be petrified. I scooped it up (no touching) and put it in a plastic bag. She took it to show and tell and then it has been on the side of our fridge, in it’s bag, hanging from a magnet, for 3 years. I have no idea why I haven’t gotten rid of it but the kids love it. We have done nothing to it and it still looks exactly the same as when we found it. But it did look kind of dried up already… like it had sat in the sun there a long time??? Anyways, in my morbid and oddly achieved experience I think it will be fine as is!
YoungHouseLove says
No way! I would have totally thought that would need to be treated somehow to keep from decomposing!
xo
s
crib tales says
NATURE! Goulet!
cddun says
What a coincidence; today my daughter and I released a swallowtail butterfly that we had caught as a caterpillar. I actually did a double take because this picture looks so similar to some of the ones I took!
We have a few professionally preserved butterflies in double sided glass shadow boxes. They all have the abdomens cut off. I thought it was so they could be glued to the glass, but after reading one of the comments above, I guess it is to help preserve them.
Sarah says
I found a dead butterfly and decided to take it to work and use the laminating machine to laminate it. I did not take into account that it’s innards needed somewhere to go!! So it looked all pretty until to see the yellow stream of glob. So needless to say it did not work. Good luck to you :)
Emily says
I had one of these swallowtails hanging out in my backyard! Well, one day I was mowing and it crawled out of this little section that is kinda “weedy” (think I made up that word) and it wouldn’t flying away, which I thought was really strange. I kept worrying about it the whole time I was mowing my backyard, because it refused to fly away. So, I just told myself to stop worrying and maybe it will eventually fly away. Well, the next day I came home from work and went to the spot where the butterfly was hanging out and it was gone! I’m not sure if it was staying put because it had been raining and maybe they don’t like to fly when they’re wet. But, anyway I did get some great pictures of it while it was just hanging out and I’m relieved it wasn’t dead. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, that’s so sweet!
xo
s
Tara says
When you do put it under a cloche, it helps to stop other bugs from eating it if you put some fragments of mothballs in with it. If it’s protected from prying hands and totally dry, there’s no reason it won’t last for aaaaaages.
Paula says
Reading back through your archives kinda like a diy adventure novel =-) I recently found an Eastern Swallowtail butterfly in my back yard (Indiana). They are BEAUTIFUL! It was living. I took a few pix. Taking a picture and cutting it out, like your other butterfly collection, means you wouldn’t have to worry about *decomposition* or scavengers.