Mother’s Day is just a few days away! If you’d like to help a young crafter make something easy and cute for their mom, try this half-and-half paper bouquet. By using cupcake liners, this pretty bunch of posies can last long after this weekend’s festivities.
Materials
- Standard size and mini size cupcake liners – five of each size in white for the papers, plus five additional standard size liners to set aside
- Craft paint in two different shades of the same color (try to pick one dark and one light)
- Paintbrush
- Floral wire
- Brads
- Hole puncher
- Ribbon
- Favorite fresh flowers (optional)
Instructions
| 1. Start out by flattening the cupcake liners with your hand. Place them under a heavy book for a little while to completely flatten them. |
| 2. Next, with your light shade of paint, paint all of the liners, both big and small, one color on just one side. Let dry. |
| 3. Let the liners dry. TIP: Keep an old cooling rack from the kitchen in your art supply stash. It’s a great way to let art projects dry and recycle an old household good. |
| 4. Once the lighter shade is dry, paint the other half with the darker shade. Again, let dry. |
| 5. When the liners are dry, layer a small liner on top of the standard size. Place one of your extra plain white liners underneath this group. (Try mixing the half-and-half designs when you line them up!) Gather the papers together and pinch with your fingers to make a flower shape. |
| 6. Punch a hole at the bottom of the gathered part you just made. |
| 7. Cut a 10-inch piece of floral wire and feed it through the hole you just punched. Bend the end of the wire over and twist to close. |
| 8. Take a brad and place it the hole you just punched. Attach to the back for the flower on the wire. Your flower is now finished – complete the rest of the flowers. |
| 9. Gather your finished flowers together and tie with a piece of ribbon. If you like, add a small amount of fresh flowers to your bouquet; they can be removed and the paper flowers saved long after Mother’s Day. |
How’d mom like her bouquet? Share the moment! Just email a photo of your creation to me, lish@www.metroparent.com. I’ll feature it in a future Make It blog.
