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:

  1. 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.

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

    love

    because I always save them.

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  3. 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!

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

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

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

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  7. 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.

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

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

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

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

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  12. 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.

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  13. 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!

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

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  15. Clear packing tape! You're a genius!

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

    Thank you~

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

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  18. 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

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  19. 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

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  20. Those are adorable!

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

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

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