Easy butterfly paperclips | How About Orange

April 09, 2008

Easy butterfly paperclips

I have these teensy, tiny little 2" pieces of origami paper that were begging to be used for something, so here's my idea: fancy paperclips. I should probably label this post a "time-waster" since this is not very practical, but who cares. If you get a kick out of cutting tiny bits of pretty paper like I do, the fun is in the making of them. And who wouldn't love to get a note clipped to a file with one of these? Well, maybe lots of people. But that's okay.

To make some, just fold a little piece of paper in half and cut out a butterfly profile. Free hand it, or click here to get the shape I made and print it to use as your template. (Cutting tip for accuracy: turn and move the paper, keeping your scissors in the same position.) Open up the butterfly, poke it with a pin, and thread it onto a paperclip. These will probably fall apart after one or two uses, but at least all the tiny leftover scraps of paper in the world can have a brief moment of glory.

P.S. That's my new kirigami book from Megumi, which I can't wait to try out.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I usually never post on a blog, but I have to say those are cute cute cute. I love the "time waters" but I was thinking you could make those to put on letters or invitations. And if I was still working at an office setting I would have them all over my files.

vfg said...

"all the tiny leftover scraps of paper in the world can have a brief moment of glory."

love

because I always save them.

Anonymous said...

You are so fabulous... I hate parting with pretty things, no matter how small. Ditto the quote from vfg -- I love the way you think!

Larissa Holland said...

ooh I must use these in some way. simple and fluttery and pretty. and another key, easy to make. thanks!

lynne said...

My girls would love those butterflies attached to their barrettes! Nice idea.

Marcia said...

I think it is very sweet.

Kim said...

Triple Love these....

Anonymous said...

Look at those adorable little butterflies. What a clever idea:) Thanks for this post!

Anonymous said...

Really beautiful and special little things to add to 'dare-I-say' hand-written letters and thank-you notes (often forgotten in this world of high-tech gadgetry. I like your Kirigami book- my new book doesn't look nearly as interesting.

Anonymous said...

Aww, these are adorable! I have to try to make one NOW ^^

Celeste said...

i have a butterfly punch! this is ingenious and i'm totally making one to use on my next scrapbook page. thanks!

craftapalooza said...

You've been tagged....

k e r r y said...

I love these! So pretty. I wonder what my boss would say if I started to add butterflies to my work submissions?

Jessica Jones said...

Try it and find out. :) I think mine would be confused.

Anonymous said...

I just read this post & printed the template less than 20 seconds later.
This is so fun, I think every thing I do at work today will have a butterfly attached to it.

Lotussooz said...

I love this idea... flowers would be cute too.. i bet if you covered them with a bit of clear packing tape they would last a bit longer and you could tape it to the one side of the clip!! Or better yet use binder clips!

Love it!

Nevis said...

Cute! I would love to get papers at work in my inbox with one of those on it!

Jessica Jones said...

Clear packing tape! You're a genius!

kim said...

oh my goodness! I love these - so simple, so sweet!

Thank you~

Anonymous said...

Hilarious idea! ;o)) Thank you for sharing it with us, Jessica. Happy week-end cheers, Nicole

Anna said...

OOooh those are so pretty! Not sure if my manager would appreciate reports held together with butterflies though!!

Makes a change from all the metaly-ness

Our Hands For Hope said...

For a "time waster" these are very cute. I saw this site and thought you might be interested in sending a butterfly to this project.

http://www.hmh.org/minisite/butterfly/index.html
Terisa

s a n s k u :) said...

Love them!! I gotta go make some!

Anonymous said...

Those are adorable!

An idea I just had to make them last longer is to tape over them before cutting them out.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

This is such a fantastic idea! It's a great way to add color. I'll be linking to this!