If you’re looking for a cost effective but super cute party favour (or birthday ring sweet) then this post is for you! When Aria spotted a version of these butterfly candy party favours she decided that these are what she would take to school for her birthday ring.

Now that her class is 24 kiddos and not the small group of 12 she had in playschool, I just can’t bring myself to spend a ton of money on her birthday ring, especially just after throwing her a birthday party and buying pressies. I just knew that I could recreate what she saw on Pinterest without spending a bomb. And I did! Even better, they were crazy easy to do if you just set aside two or three nights and turn on a good series.

Here’s what you will need for your butterfly candy party favours:

1. Rolls of round sweets. I got mine at Westpack, R22 odd for 20, I bought two packs

2. Cardboard. I used this as an opportunity to use up all the bits and pieces we had in the craft cupboard

3. Small round stickers. Mine were from PNA and were about R25 for a box of 700 (guess I’ll have these for a while!) If you used patterned cardboard you wouldn’t need the stickers as well I don’t think.

4. Pipecleaners. Also from PNA, also around R25 for 25. I only needed one pack as they got cut in half.

5. Glue gun or double sided tape, but the glue gun works best

And now to put them together:

1. Using one of the rolls of sweets, draw a butterfly shape around it. The roll of sweets will form the body so you need to draw the wings around it. I drew this on a thick piece of card (like from a shoe box), you then cut it out and this will become your stencil.

2. Next, draw and cut out as many butterflies as you need. I had enough rolls of sweets for 40 so that’s what I did.

3. If you’re using stickers, you can now decorate your butterfly wings with the stickers. If your kids want to join in, they can even grab some crayons and decorate the wings that way.

4. Fold the wings slightly upwards to give them a bit of dimension.

5. Cut your pipecleaner in half, and then wind a piece a few times around the end of the roll of sweets (making sure the sides are equal in length) to form the butterfly’s feelers.

6. Lastly, using your glue gun, secure the roll of sweets to the cardboard wings.

How easy is that?! And like I said, so incredibly affordable, my 40 butterflies cost me just over R70 which is honestly nothing, let’s be honest.

The butterflies were an absolute HIT with Aria’s class, so much so that I’m already thinking of what creature I can create next. Any suggestions?