Mother’s Day is coming, and there are a lot of ideas out there for what to get mother. Some suggest gifts made by the children; others suggest giving her flowers; while still others suggest art for her home. My thought was, why not combine these ideas? So, my kids and I sat down and made some felt flower art for Mother’s Day.

 

Materials:
1 burlap canvas
several sheets of felt in different, bright, colors
The patterns page, available here.
One pipe cleaner for each of the flowers
Scissors
Bamboo skewers

Preparation:
First, start by printing out the patterns page. Each print contains enough patterns to make four flowers. The patterns are one-time use, so if more flowers are wanted, then more patterns may need to be printed. The patterns are suggestions, but really any oddly edged shape could work.

After printing the patterns page, it’s time to cut the patterns out. I cut the patterns out from the paper first, and then I followed the patterns to cut out the felt. I also cut the felt two at a time, to save a bit of time.

After cutting out the shapes, I cut little slits into the felt as indicated on the patterns (approximately).

Creation:
Now, it’s time to create the flowers. This part is easy enough that my four year old successfully made several flowers.

Weave the pipe cleaner through the slits in an alternating pattern.  Once the felt is threaded onto the pipe cleaner, squish the felt together as tightly as possible.

Fold the pipe clean over a few times to create a knot. This becomes the flower’s center.

Finally, feed the other end of the pipe cleaner through the burlap canvas.

After all the flowers have been added to the burlap canvas, twist the back of the pipe cleaners together to keep the flowers in place.

Finishing Touches:
Once the flowers are placed, now it is time to add the final embellishments. Thread a few green pipe cleaners through the front of the burlap canvas. Then, bend the pipe cleaners opposite directions (on the underside of the canvas) to keep the pipe cleaners in place. Finally, tie a nice bow to finish the bouquet of flowers off.

This craft is a fun way for children to build a nice present for their Mom, and it makes a nice piece to display. It does take an adult’s supervision to create this craft. Also, the patterns provided are just suggestions. Any shaped piece of felt can be used to create the flowers. The trick is to thread the pipe cleaner through is such a way that the felt becomes layered and shaped.

One final note: this craft works best with a burlap canvas, and no frame is needed. However, it would be possible to stick the pipe cleaners through foam core or card stock. If the other types of canvases (e.g. foam core or card stock) are used, then a frame (without glass) would be a great finishing touch.