The first new category that this post falls under is home goods,which will be home-decor related posts, be it DIY projects, vintage goods, or other vignettes. The other is projects, featuring my art & DIY undertakings.

I thought I’d show you photos of the butterfly wall that I mentioned in a recent illustrated post. When working at PotteryBarn a few years back, one of the few things I did take home were two boxes of these feather-crafted buggers that could be used in things like shadow boxes or faux terrariums. I’ve held on to these in a closet for about six years, and finally put them to good use.

The backs had these long stick pins attached, but they were blunt-ended, not sharp, so they would not stick into anything harder than foam or clay or fabric. Knowing that I ultimately wanted to put these on a wall, something had to change.

I pulled out all of the straight pins, which came out easily from the foam bodies.

Using flat tacks and a strong craft glue, I switched things up.

One box got placed on the tree, sticking the butterflies randomly onto branches.

The other box was pinned onto the wall to create the idea that they were flying off the tree and away on another adventure in their ridiculously short lives.

(Side question: My iPhone seems to always have this lightly glowing red-orange orb in the center of the photos (see above). Anyone know what the deal is?)

I’m pretty happy with the way this turned out. We have this monster of a blank wall behind the TV which sort of got filled in with the addition of the potted trees. This helps add a little bit of installation-art flair.

For your own casa, you could use any kind of fake bird or insect from the stores, attaching long pins or tacks, if needed, or just gluing the objects directly onto salvaged dead branches or other surfaces. Go, nature!