A Thrifty Butterfly Cage or Plant Protector

Or just a home for dirty socks

If you're on a budget and don't want to spend top dollar on a premade butterfly enclosure, you can build your own with a couple of inexpensive items. All you need is a folding mesh hamper, some meshy material (tulle, lace, etc.) and some binder clips.

TO HOLD BUTTERFLIES:
Open the hamper all the way. Turn it upside down on a flat surface. Lay your mesh over the top opening and attach the binder clips to each corner (butterflies are good escape artists).

Alternately, you can grab a mesh food cover to place over the top (still using binder clips for the corners). These are nice to have because you can also use alone as temporary butterfly enclosures.

TO PROTECT A PLANT:
If there's a plant in your garden that has eggs, caterpillars are chrysalids, you can use the mesh hamper to help protect them from predators. Just turn the hamper upside-down and place it over the plant. Use some rocks to hold the corners down so it doesn't topple in the wind. If you have caterpillars, they will eventually make their way to the shady top to go into their chrysalis! Once they do, you may choose to bring the enclosure indoors to protect them until they become adults.

Easy peezy, lemon squeezy!

We also have plans for building a hanging butterfly cage!

Here are some of the supplies on Amazon in case that's easier for you: