Coffee Filter Butterfly – Crafts by Amanda

Author by Amanda Davis on August 15, 2025 Updated on August 15, 2025 This coffee filter butterfly craft is colorful, unique, and easy to make. All you need is a coffee filter, some watercolor paints, and a pipe cleaner. This is a great opportunity to talk about butterflies, caterpillars, and spring as well! Coffee Filter Butterfly Craft Chances are you have made at least one coffee filter butterfly in your life. Personally, I’ve made many! Working in the craft industry, especially making kid’s crafts, presents me with plenty of opportunities to show kids how to make this classic butterfly craft that not only their parents probably made when they were little, but their grandparents too! Coffee filter butterflies are easy to make and oh so beautiful! This particular craft has been popular for many, many years. In fact, when my now adult son was in first grade, I came into the classroom and made these coffee filter butterflies with the students. The pictures in this post are actually quite old too! These photos were taken in 2009! Supplies You Will Need Supplies You May Find Helpful Helpful Crafting Tips For a more vibrant butterfly, be sure to paint all white areas of the coffee filter with paint. Tie a piece of fishing line around the “neck” and suspend from the ceiling. They will look like they are flying! Instead of using all the colors on one filter, make some with warm colors (red, yellow, orange) and some with cool colors (blue, green, purple). How to Make a Coffee Filter Butterfly Flatten the coffee filter and place it on a plate or newspaper; the paint and water will soak through. Paint your coffee filter butterfly using watercolor paints as desired. Set aside on paper towels to dry. Fold the pipe cleaner in half. Remember, you are only using half of a pipe cleaner to begin with. Fold the coffee filter accordion style, in about ½” pleats. Twist the pipe cleaner around the filter to secure it in place. Bend the tips of the pipe cleaners over about ¼” to create the antennae. Fan out the butterfly wings. You can hang these from the ceiling or make them into a mobile. Fishing link works great because you can’t see it, so the butterflies appear to be flying! I hope you have fun with this craft, there’s a printable version down below. Keep your extra coffee filters on hand to make these beautiful watercolor luminaries for spring, and don’t forget to check out my collection of colorful crafts for kids for more fun project ideas. More butterfly crafts Coffee Filter Butterfly This classic coffee filter butterfly craft is always popular with kids. Coffee filters and watercolor paint turn into beautiful butterflies that your kids will love! Author: Amanda Formaro Supplies1/2 black pipe cleanerPaper coffee filterWater color paintsPaintbrushWater InstructionsFlatten the coffee filter and place it on a plate or newspaper, the paint and water will soak through.Paint your coffee filters using watercolor paint as desired. Set aside on paper towels to dry.Fold the pipe cleaner in half. Remember, you are only using half of a pipe cleaner to begin with.Fold the coffee filter accordion style, in about ½” pleats.Twist the pipe cleaner around the filter to secure it in place.Twist the pipe cleaner around the filter to secure it in place.Bend the tips of the pipe cleaners over about ¼” to create the antennae.Fan out the butterfly wings.If desired, hang with yarn or fishing line. This post originally appeared here on May 14, 2016. Amanda Davis is the crafty, entrepreneurial mother of four children. She loves to bake, cook, make kid's crafts and create decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years. Latest posts by Amanda Davis (see all)