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Home » Parties & Entertaining » Picnics

Butterfly Themed Party Ideas

Modified: Mar 23, 2025 · Published: Jul 14, 2023 by Dannyelle Nicolle-Ramjist · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

Butterfly party ideas for watercolored and gold butterfly party decorations, butterfly mini-cakes and butterfly sugar cookies. Set up outside as a picnic this is the prettiest party ever.

Butterfly themed party ideas party table, food, and decorations.
Jump to:
  • DIY Butterfly Party Decorations
  • The Butterfly Party Table
  • Butterfly Party Favor Boxes
  • Butterfly Sugar Cookies
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • More Party Inspiration

Butterflies are the perfect theme for a summer celebration, whether it's for big girls or little girls!  We set up the prettiest butterfly theme party in our backyard for a girlfriend get together and it was so much fun.  A butterfly themed party is so perfect for garden parties. I'm excited to share all the fun ideas and little details that made our party guests love it.

Butterfly party ideas with butterfly food and decorations.

DIY Butterfly Party Decorations

I started out with making the butterfly party supplies, by customizing some things with gorgeous handmade paper butterflies.  We wanted to use lots of pink for our colour scheme, but add in some pastels for all the summery vibes.  I watercolored some watercolour paper that I picked up at the local dollar store, and then adding gold foil wing details over top with my Cricut machine foil tool, and then cutting out the paper butterflies in different sizes with the Cricut.  If you'd like to make something similar, find my Cricut Design Space cut files here.  

If you didn't have a Cricut you could use a butterfly template to cut out the butterfly shape by hand or use plastic butterflies.  I used these pretty pastel coloured butterflies to create the perfect DIY party decorations.  These butterflies had lots of gorgeous gold foil detail and it sparked in the sun during the party.

Butterfly themed party tablescape.

Butterfly Paper Lanterns

My favourite butterfly party decoration was the beautiful butterfly lanterns we hung over our party table, covered in lots of butterflies.  We used ours over our main picnic table, but they would also look amazing hanging over a dessert table too.

To make them I hot glued our paper butterflies on to the lanterns in a way that made them look like they were flying up the lanterns.  I placed the largest butterflies in the middle, and then placed smaller ones on the top and bottom.  

These paper lanterns are such a nice alternative to helium balloons, since you don't have to worry about picking them up on the day of the party.  And the lanterns are reusable, which is nice.

Hanging paper lanterns with butterflies for a butterfly themed party.
DIY butterfly paper lantern party decoration.
DIY butterfly paper lantern party decorations.

DIY Cake Toppers

We also used the paper butterflies to create our own cupcake toppers.  We hot glued the butterflies onto some wooden toothpicks.  The mini cakes are made from stacking some pink cake rounds -cut out with cookie cutters.  We layered them with jam and icing, and piped a pretty little icing flower on the top of the cakes, and added our little butterfly cake toppers to each one. We wanted to make it look like a butterfly was landing on a flower.  Our little butterfly cupcakes mini-cakes turned out so cute!  The cake toppers would also be beautiful grouped together on a larger cake or butterfly birthday cake.

Individual pink party cakes with paper butterfly cake toppers.
Individual cakes with butterfly paper toppers and flowers.

butterfly mini cakes

Butterfly Drink Decorations

We used the same paper butterflies with beautiful gold foil butterfly illustrations on the wings to add to each glass.  We had some gorgeous vintage pink champagne coupes and we added a little flutter butterfly to each one, by cutting a slit onto it and adding it to the rim of the glass.  You could also make these into name cards by adding the guests name on to each one.  These were such a lovely addition to the table and perfect for sipping sparking wine or sparkling lemonade and adding a little butterfly magic. 

DIY paper butterfly decorations for glasses.

The Butterfly Party Table

We were setting up a picnic so we used a low coffee table in our party area of the garden and then added pillows and blankets around the outside so our guests would be comfortable.  

I love this idea for a picnic, because you can still set a gorgeous table with no fear of things getting knocked over, like they might on a traditional picnic blanket.  

We draped our table with a vintage lace tablecloth, and then added some colorful flowers as a centerpiece.  We used flowers with the party colors for the floral arrangements, so a mix of wild flowers, and pretty pink peonies.

Butterfly party ideas with butterfly decorations, and butterfly themed food.

For each place setting we started with a small white plate and then layered on some pretty floral napkins.  I wanted to add some floral to the table and these napkins were the perfect way to do it.  I actually used two tea towels with coordinating patterns and cut them in half, and sewed a hem on the cut side to make the napkins. 

Butterfly picnic party with DIY butterfly decorations and themed food.

Butterfly Napkin Rings

To create the custom napkin rings, I used some clear acrylic butterflies -shop for them here, and added the guests names in gold foil cut out on my Cricut machine.  I tied them with the prettiest frayed edge ribbon -shop for it here.  

The butterfly names served as a beautiful napkin ring, a place card and a sweet take home butterfly party favor after the party.  If you had little guests for a magical butterfly birthday party, these would be a great addition to their goodie bags too.

DIY personalized butterfly napkin rings.

Butterfly Party Favor Boxes

On each place setting we also added a cute little butterfly favor box.  We made these butterfly party favors on our Cricut.  You can find our butterfly favour box cut pattern here in Cricut Design Space if you'd like to make one.  Each one is cut from one sheet of pink cardstock and folded together.  

We added a chocolate to each one for a little sweet treat.  These are a fun way to add another small party favor to the table.

DIY paper butterfly favor boxes.
DIY paper butterfly favour boxes for a butterfly party.

Butterfly Sugar Cookies

We made the beautiful sugar cookies with lots of color to match our paper butterflies as part of our party food.  

We started out with our favourite sugar cookie recipe -find it here and used a butterfly-shaped cookie cutter to cut them out.  

To decorate them I made a very thin white icing, and then added in a swirl of colored icing and used a toothpick to create a marble effect.  Then I dipped in each cookie.  I love how easy this cookie decorating method is and it looks so beautiful.  

While the icing is still wet add on some color coordinated sprinkles, edible gold glitter, and some little bits of 24K edible gold leaf -buy it here.  Your guests will love these stunning cookies.

They'd make a lovely addition to favor party bags too, sealed in a cello bag and tied with a ribbon.

A plate of butterfly sugar cookies on a butterfly themed tablescape.
Butterfly sugar cookies with marbled icing and sprinkles.
Butterfly themed party decorations.

This party theme makes your heart flutter.  These butterfly party ideas would be perfect for a girls get together, bridal shower, or baby shower theme.  And also our butterfly party ideas would be perfect for birthday parties.  Any birthday girl would love all our beautiful butterflies!  How sweet would this be for a 1st birthday party?  Just be sure to add their own pair of butterfly wings for the guest of honour.  

Butterfly picnic with butterfly themed DIY decorations and food.

We had so much fun thinking of creative ways to add so many pretty butterfly details. With a butterfly party ideas like this, life really is a party!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make these decorations without a Cricut?

Yes, use butterflies from the craftstore to add to paper lanterns, make cupcake picks, and add to glasses instead. Use letter stickers or a paint pen to write names on the butterfly napkin rings/favors.

Can you make the butterfly cake and cookies ahead of time?

Yes, make your cookies and cakes the day before and store in an airtight container, or store them in the freezer for longer.

If you tried this Butterfly Themed Party or any other ideas on my blog please let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!

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