Mother’s Day Craft – Standing Paper Flowers

Here is a project I did for Junior Magazine, and I thought it would make a fun craft or gift for Mother’s Day. They are standing paper flowers. The idea was inspired by a paper ornament from Ann Wiseman’s book, Making Things (One of my favorite kids craft books.)

The paper pedal circles slide on and off without the need for glue or tape, which makes them a great building toy that can be put together in many color variations. They take only minutes to make, and stand by themselves, so you can use them for a decoration just about anywhere.

There are instructions below if you want to try them out. And as always, feel free to upload photos of your versions on the Made by Joel Facebook Page!

Materials:
paper
scissors
clear tape
wire. (I used 18″ floral stem wire, which you can find in the floral section of craft stores. That way you don’t need to cut the wire. It’s already a perfect length.)
Instructions:
1- Cut out 6 circles using colorful pieces of paper. (My circles were about 3 inches in diameter, but you may make whatever size you’d like. The circles do not need to be perfect.)
2 – Take your piece of stem wire and using your fingers, bend a circle (about 4 inches in diameter) at one end for the base. Make the wire flat against the bottom through the middle of the circle.
3 – Then bend it straight up at the middle to make the stem of the flower stand upright.
4 – Fold 5 of the paper circles in half, then cut a narrow notch into the side of each fold.
5 – Take the remaining paper circle, and attach it to the top of the wire stem with one piece of clear tape. This will be the center of the flower.
6 – Now align the notch of each folded circle and simply slide them one by one onto the center circle. Do any last little bends on the base so the flower will stand up firmly. Done!

You can buy supplies for this project below! (Made by Joel Shop is powered by The Saturday Market Project)

Click on the image below if you’d like to read the article from Junior Magazine.

36 Responses
  1. I Live in an Antbed

    Everything you create is so universally engaging. I believe creativity reflects the glory of the Lord. These are joyful! :)

  2. Lori Henriques

    Your craft is brilliant, your photos are joyful, and boy their layout design is really wonderful. Thanks for all the photos of it!

  3. fraufertig

    You are just amazing! I love the smplicity of your ideas. Everythink is done and prepaired so fast and the effect is so great. Thank you so much for sharing.

    fraufertig

  4. Poddle

    I'm new to your blog, but you've already proven inspirational several times, both on the toy and the painting front (more info on what I/we've done with that inspiration is on my blog if you're interested). :)

    This idea is a real goodie. I read this post last night and this morning I got all the kids at the local toddler group that I co-run making these. Went down a storm! Thank you!

  5. Joel Henriques

    Thank you everyone!

    La Tendedera – Yes! I love my daughter's paper flower! So much character, and texture. Any child that can use scissors at all, will be able to do this craft.

    Poddle – Very cool! Just checked out your blog. I love the multi-purpose lion doll, and also glad that you're painting! It's always fun to get back into something like that! Thanks for the kind mentions.

  6. Áurea López

    That original idea!. I'm happy for your publications in journals and to recognize your work. I love the purity that permeates everything you do. How do you do to have the beautiful house?, I have a couple of rooms that are, "the room of the lions", one is my studio and another is the office with the computer. They are charming places for my son. Tell me that you also have a "room of the lions, " please ….

  7. Jessica

    Love these ideas, and have already made several things using your ideas as inspiration! My daughters are stoked! Question: I, too, live in Portland, and am wondering if there is a local craft store you could recommend? (I live in inner se and really cannot handle going out to 82nd for craft supplies! ;D)

  8. Carolyn

    Joel, you have made another rainy Sunday afternoon fun! Your projects keep my little one in place for more than 5 minutes! That's a huge deal :). Thank you.

  9. Joel Henriques

    Thanks everyone!

    Áurea López – Ha! Yes, we definitely have a "room of the lions." I'll start calling it that now too!

    Jessica – Not really. If you find one though, please let me know!!

    C&S – Wow, it looks wonderful!!!

  10. We made these for the grandmas and great grandma for mothers day and they were a huge hit! Thanks for the tutorial and inspiration.

  11. Hi, there! I added this craft to my DIY Mother’s Day Gift blog post today {http://seefritz.com/2013/05/homemade-mothers-day-gifts/}. I love the idea! Thanks for the inspiration.

    1. Great post Lauren! Thanks for including me. Always nice to get more ideas for Mother’s Day gifts that the kids can really be involved in. Snack box is brilliant!

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