Have you had just about enough of Winter yet? I have, and as the weather is warming up, my thoughts are turning to visions of Spring, like sunshine-filled days, fragrant blooms, and gentle butterflies. I decided to make those thoughts materialize recently with some butterfly cupcakes that I took to a little gathering at a friend’s house. This easy decorating idea would be perfect for a baby shower, wedding shower, birthday, or any Spring occasion.

To get started, you’ll to download and print our handy Butterfly Template. It has several different sizes of butterflies on it, so that you can choose the one you like best, or even mix and match them. I used the 3″ size, which I think looks just right on a standard-sized cupcake. You’ll also need some fabric to make the butterflies from. I recommend something really light and airy, like this pale blue, almost see-through fabric I found that’s dotted with tiny silver sparkles (“bff Fancy Sparkle Organdy Shell Blue Fabric” from Hancock Fabrics). Love it!

The lightweight fabric I chose made for great-looking butterfly wings, but it was so thin that it wasn’t stiff enough to stand up on its own, so I doctored it a bit. I laid the fabric out on a piece of wax paper and brushed on a coat of fabric stiffener. (Make sure the label says non-toxic.) Then I pulled the fabric up off the paper while it was still wet.

I hung the wet fabric over the edge of my table to dry. (I used the bottle of stiffener as a weight to keep the fabric from falling off and gluing itself to the carpet!) When the stiffener had all dried clear, the fabric looked the same but now had a nice stiff feel to it.

From here you are ready to use the template to trace and cut out the butterflies, but I used a little trick to reduce cutting time. I folded the fabric up a couple inches and lined up the template (folded in half) on the folded edge. I pinned it in place and then cut it out.

I ended up with a perfectly symmetrical butterfly that’s already folded down the middle, right where it needs to be! Before too long, I had a whole flock of pretty butterflies collected on my table.

I frosted the cupcakes with a matching blue frosting, using a big swirl so that it would somewhat resemble a flower. Then I gave each butterfly one more good, strong pinch in the middle.

I carefully stuck the pinched area down into the frosting and when I let go, the butterfly wings spread slightly and it was perfect.

These were a huge hit at the party!