Do you enjoy looking at all the flowers blooming in the spring? Whether they are in bushes or trees, gardens or in pots, flowers come in all colors, shapes and sizes. And now you can take part by creating your very own paper plate sunflower! This craft, primarily for school-aged children, will allow your imagination and creativity to flourish as you paint the plate and cut the petals . Once you have finished your flower, you can glue on a popsicle stick to represent the stem and show all of your friends and family.
Supplies needed:
One Paper Plate
Yellow Paint
Green Paint
Pencil
Paint Palette
A large paint brush
A medium sized brush
A popsicle stick
Craft scissors
Glue bottle
Mini Black pom poms
Newspaper or recycled paper
Before you begin, set out all your supplies on a table or solid surface. Because you are using paint, this would be the time to cover your table or solid surface with newspaper or recycled paper in case it gets messy! If you need help cutting, make sure you have an adult nearby.
Step 1: First you will prepare your paint by taking out your paint palette and placing it on the recycled paper. Fill up one circle on the palette with the yellow paint and a second circle with green paint. This should be all the paint you need for the craft.
Step 2: It’s time to draw your first triangle! Take a pencil and start at the top of your plate. Draw a line the length of your thumb on the edge. You will go left to right. The first dot will be on the left at the start of the line, the second dot will be in the middle of the line and the third dot will be on the right at the end of the line. After that, you will make the fourth and final dot towards the center of the plate. Find the middle dot and use your thumb to point towards the center of the plate. Mark the dot at the end of your thumb.
Once you have four dots, connect the four dots from left to right using the following order: first dot, second dot, third dot and fourth dot and back to the first dot.
Tip: Make sure you use an erasable pencil in case you need to adjust the spacing between the dots.
Step 3: Now that you have drawn your first triangle, you are going to use your scissors to cut out the triangle. To do this, follow the lines you made in step 2. Starting with the first dot to the fourth dot in the center of the plate and up to the third dot. It should look like the letter V when finished.
Tip: If you are having trouble cutting out the triangle, ask an adult nearby to assist!
Step 4: After your first triangle is finished, take the length of your thumb across the edge of your plate and start on your second triangle going through Step 2 and Step 3 again. I cut out 8 triangles so make sure to count along the way. If you have a smaller paper plate, cut out six triangles instead
Tip: If it is easier for you to do less triangles, like six triangles on a regular plate or four triangles on a small plate, go for it. And remember it is okay to not have the perfect shape or spacing between the triangles.
Step 5: Now that you have cut out triangles to be used as your flower petals, place your paint palette in front of you with your two brushes. Take the larger brush and dab it in the yellow paint. Paint the entire plate with yellow. And then set it aside for drying. It will take about thirty minutes to dry.
Tip: During the drying process, if you have a lot of paint on the recycled paper around the edges of your plate, your plate can get stuck to the paper. To prevent this, pick it up after 10 minutes and move it to a paint free area.
Step 6: While your paper plate is drying, pull out your popsicle stick and take your medium sized paint brush and dab it in the green paint. Paint the popsicle stick green. It will take about 10-15 minutes to dry.
Tip: Similar to step 5, if you have a lot of paint on the recycled paper around the edges of your popsicle stick, the stick can get stuck to the paper. To prevent this, pick it up after 2-3 minutes and move it to a paint free area.
Step 7: Once your paper plate has dried, take out 10-15 mini black poms poms and your glue bottle. You are going to do one circle of mini black poms poms around the edge of the center of the plate by using a dot of glue for each pom and pressing them gently on the glue one by one until they make a full circle.
When the circle is finished, fill the middle of the plate with as many pom poms as you want. I recommend spacing them out evenly.
Fun fact: In a sunflower, this section is called disk flowers.
Tip: If you have larger pom poms, then you will only need 6-7 for the first circle and then you can fill up the center of the plate with 5-6 more.
Step 8: Once the paint on the popsicle stick has dried, take your glue bottle and squeeze a thin line of glue at the top of your stick. Go to the bottom of the plate and gently press the stick against the back of your plate for a few seconds.
Tip: It is very important you glue the popsicle stick behind the plate, not in front of it.
Step 9: For the final step, place your plate in an undisturbed area so the glue can dry. It will take about 20 minutes. This is a very important step because the pom poms can fall off if the glue does not dry all the way. Once the glue has dried and the stick is firmly placed on the plate, you are finished!
Sunflowers are timeless and unique with their ability to lift our spirits and bring us happiness. Its colors, style and shape brings energy and vibrancy into any room like the object it is named after, the sun. Its sunny charm makes it a perfect spring and summer flower for around the house. And with this craft, you can make your own sunflower that will live on forever and you can show off to your friends and family! Happy Spring!
~ Made By: Brooke S.