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June 10, 2021
Making bell jars is a fun and affordable project in which you’ll create a beautiful gift or piece of decor for your home. We’ve gotten a lot of questions about how to build bell jars with our paper butterflies and moths, and are delighted to share a step-by-step tutorial explaining the process! We recently released Multi-Packs that make it easy to do this project! You can also follow along as we go through these steps on YouTube and TikTok!
Materials:
Butterflies: We’re working with the Blue and White Morpho Butterflies. Any of our multi-packs are great for this project!
Bell Jar: Ours is from IKEA and is 10 3/4” tall. You’ll want to find a bell jar with a wooden base, since you will be drilling into the bottom.
Rod: We use a clear plastic rod sourced from a plastic supplier.
Wire Cutters: To clip the plastic rod.
Drill: You’ll use the drill to make a hole in the wooden base of the bell jar.
Hot Glue: To shape and attach the butterflies.
Plus: Your hands and creativity!
Our Blue and White Morpho Multi-Pack comes with 15 of the same type of butterfly. For this size of bell jar, you’ll only need 10 butterflies, which means you’ll have extras for other projects, or to attach to the outside of the bell jar. Any of our Multi-Packs are perfectly suited to this project!
Step 1: Shape the butterflies
We begin by making our butterflies look as lifelike and 3D as possible. With your fingers, gently curve the upper and lower wingtips away from you. Place a tiny drop of hot glue on the upper edge of the lower wings, and gently fold the upper wings over the glue, pressing down until the glue has hardened. This simple styling give the butterflies the appearance of flying and makes them sturdier to work with!
Step 2: Cut the rod to fit the bell jar
Your plastic rod may come in a very long piece, and you’ll need to cut it down to fit your bell jar. We approximate and measure by eyesight, and then cut the rod with wire cutters. The ends don’t need to look pretty because they’ll be hidden by butterflies and the wooden base of the bell jar!
Step 3: Drill a hole in the wooden base
You’ll need to drill a hole in the wooden base of the bell jar, for the plastic rod to sit in. Match the diameter of the rod with the size of your drill bit, for a snug fit - this way you won’t need to use any glue to keep the rod in place! Just be sure not to drill all the way through the base!
Step 4: Arrange the butterflies!
Now comes the fun part! We like to start at the upper tip of the rod and work our way down, attaching each butterfly with a drop of hot glue. Angle the butterflies to give them the appearance of flying and to create volume. Remember they can fly in any direction!
Since our specimens are printed double-sided, they'll look great from any angle! Rotate the rod as you work to make sure you’re filling in any empty spaces. Experiment with placement before you commit to glue, and have fun with your design!
Step 5: Put it together
Once you’ve attached your butterflies to the rod, all that’s left is to put the bell jar together and to enjoy it!
If you've drilled a tight enough hole in your base, you won't need to use glue to hold the pin in place, but you can always add a bit for extra stability!
We hope that this tutorial has given you some ideas about how you can work with our Single Specimen Multi-Packs! Remember bell jars come in all shapes and sizes, and there’s no limits to what you can do. We can’t wait to see what you’ll create!
March 12, 2021
Making shadowboxes is a fun and easy craft project to do at home, and a wonderful way to create new art for your walls. Using our lifelike paper specimens makes it sustainable and vegan! While there’s many different styles of shadowboxes you can make (including one we've already shared!), today we’ll walk you through how to put together a Kaleidoscope Shadowbox with our paper Monarch and Viceroy butterflies.
Fun Fact: Did you know that a group of butterflies is called a Kaleidoscope?
To start, we got a Keepsake Box from a craft store. These boxes are great for displaying memorabilia and curiosities. The one we chose is 11”x14” with a 1.5” depth, and features a back wall covered in felt.
To adhere our butterflies to the box, we used one-sided velcro with sticky adhesive on the other side, which we cut into small pieces to fit the butterflies. This strategy worked well given the material of our shadowbox, but you can also use small pins to pin the butterflies, as you would with real specimens.
While working with hot-glue is a great way to make your shadowbox durable, we suggest finalizing your layout before using such a permanent option!
Starting with the center of your design is a great way to make sure the kaleidoscope spirals out evenly. We decided to work outwards from small to large, but the opposite looks great as well!
To make your butterflies appear more lifelike, bend them at the crease between wing and body, and gently curve their wings with your fingers.
Continue working outwards with your design. We made many adjustments along the way depending on what looked and felt right. There’s no right or wrong - just have fun and play with the placement!
Look at what you're doing from different angles to get a new perspective!
When you’re happy with your butterfly kaleidoscope, simply put your Shadowbox frame on the backing, and enjoy it!
We chose the Monarch and Viceroy butterflies for this project because they are available in three different sizes in our shop (Life-sized, Mini, and Micro), but you can create wonderful kaleidoscopes using just regular sized butterflies or minis as well!
If you would like to order any style of butterfly in bulk, as we used in this project, please email us at wholesale@moth-and-myth.com
December 08, 2020
November 16, 2020
It can be a challenge as a new or experienced artist to take photos of your own work. As a tool for our lovely network of creators, we wanted to share our simple guide for shooting outstanding product photos with your phone! These are tips we've learned over time, and we think you might be able to benefit from them as well. All you need is a phone with a camera, a background, and a little patience and creativity.
Lighting
Pick a spot that has natural lighting but not direct sun light. Natural lighting helps the color look the most accurate. A shaded outdoor patio is a great place to set up for your photoshoot!
Avoid: Fluorescent, over head, and direct sunlight. Any light that skews in the extreme can cause unwanted shadows, make the work look flat, causes glare and alters the color, which can be hard to correct.
Background
Select a simple, clean, light or dark background. This will help your artwork stand out and look its best. We used a large white piece of drawing paper on a clipboard for our shoot. If your artwork is light, a dark background may help it pop instead!
Avoid: Cluttered and patterned backgrounds. These distract from the work and pull focus. If you do have a patterned background, use a Tilt Shift tool on the Instagram photo editor, or shoot in Portrait Mode to soften the background and make your work stand out (example with the fern photo below).
Shoot
Shooting straight downwards at your piece in a flat-lay is a great way to showcase your work. Our set-up was on low table so we could shoot directly downwards at a comfortable height. You should have at least one photo of your piece that represents it in this way. Try other angles too that you can share and add to the product listings.
Edit
Look through your photos to see which ones stand out the most, and edit those! If your photos are shot in soft, natural light, they won’t require much editing, but a few tweaks like added brightness can help them shine! Since most platforms favor square photos, make sure your artwork is centered in the frame and leave yourself a little room to crop on the long sides of your shot.
Best Filters to use on Instagram:
Before and after comparison of the edited photo and original. We used the Instagram edits listed above, increasing brightness, brightening highlights, dialing up contrast for clarity, and increasing saturation for vibrancy.
The last step is simple...
Share your work! You've shot multiple photos, edited the ones that stand out and now it's time to share! Hooray!
Portrait Mode: If your phone camera has Portrait Mode, try using it when shooting your artwork! This setting will blur the background like a traditional camera lens would.
Find your style: Have fun and play around - don’t be afraid to try things that don’t end up working, and discover what fits your unique artwork!
Humanize the photo: We naturally respond more to photos that have a human element, and this is easy to utilize in your product photography! Try taking photos of your hands holding your artwork, or enlist a friend to help you get the shot! This will humanize the photo as well as your artwork.
We hope this has been a helpful guide. Have fun with your shoots, and tag us in your photos @mothandmyth! We can't wait to see what you'll create!
Thank you to Breana Murphy (IG @slightlycrude) for lending us the beautiful resin piece for this tutorial!
September 27, 2020
Its easy to make a Vegan Shadowbox with Moth and Myth paper moths! All you need are paper specimens, a pen and paper, glue dots, and a box.