Ok, not a *real* butterfly garden... those pretty insects wouldn't stand a chance in a house with two cats and I'm not really sure I'd want bugs (even beautiful ones) flying around my home, ever. But did you know that you can get fake paper butterflies at basically any craft store and they look amazingly, ridiculously real?
After I got sick last month I didn't end up going shopping for over three weeks (I was pretty sure my absence from Michaels was going to put them out of business) I finally went back to Michael's a few days ago and decided to just absorb all the craftiness for as long as I could.. I wandered around the aisles observing all the pretty new things that had shown up while I was gone, like spring flowers blooming all around me (literally, the new spring silk flowers are out now!)
I did have one goal in mind as I meandered around the store -- something to put on top of this bookcase that I'm using as a room divider. I had some Christmas decorations up there before but now that I took them down the top was way too barren.
AND THEN I SAW THE BUTTERFLIES. And all was right with the world. I snatched up some fake potted plants and flowers (50% off all spring florals last week, yippee!) and then went home and got to work. I mixed them with some other fake plants I had already purchased at IKEA and then started adding my little insects.
One butterfly pack was enough to do my whole garden. They come pre-attached to long thin floral wires so you can strategically plant them in your display. I chose to make some really obvious, perched on the sides of pots, and some tucked deep in the middle so that you just catch them out of the corner of your eye. Would real butterflies only mingle on the edges where everyone could see them? Nope!
You could also do this with real plants, of course, I just wanted something that would be more permanent and require no maintenance. And if one of the cats (cough, Hubble) hops up there and knocks stuff over I don't have to worry about cleaning up tons of dirt from my carpet. (Honestly, living with Hubble I practically need to baby-proof my apartment.)
I love how fresh and spring-y it looks! Everything might be fake but it just adds so much life to my apartment.
