Simple Flower Craft to Make With Kids

Inside: A simple flower craft to make with items you likely have on hand, our folk art flowers can be made with the kids or alone while binge-watching your favorite TV show.

Simple flower craft to make in a painted mason jar. — I just love these flowers!

Our Favorite Folk Art Flowers Revisited

As readers are searching for fun and easy (and attractive!) craft projects to make alone or with the kids using items already found in the home, I decided to take out my folk art flower post, dust it off, and see about reposting it. Well, the first thing I noticed was that it was a long narrative about our adventures putting the flowers together, but the post lacked a set of practical directions for making them. Sifting through the long post, I found the steps and put them together to make it simple. (After all, that’s my word for this year.)

So I’ll keep this post short and sweet, but if you’d like to slog through the longer version, you can find it here. Otherwise, read on. By the way, I’ve included the materials you will need for two flowers.

You Will Need:

Two mason jar screw bands with lids, regular mouth (no need for new when old will do)
Strips of material, (old plaid shirts or whatever you have) approximately 40 1 inch by 6 inches and 70 1/2 inch by 6 inches
Two circular pieces the circumference of the jar screw band of the same material as the strips, for gluing on the back of the flower (to give it a neater appearance)
Two pieces of burlap, 5 inches by 12 inches
Four cotton balls
Twine string or thread (type doesn’t matter)
Two thin, straight (and strong) sticks, cut from a tree, one approximately 10 inches, the other approximately 8 inches.
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Directions:

Cut the strips into 1-inch by 6-inch pieces for thinner cloth or 1/2 inch by 6 inches for thicker material.
Tie the strips onto the screw band so the ends of the strips are about equal and with the knot on the side of the band. (Where you place your fingers when unscrewing it from a jar).
Push the strips together to make room for more, making a tight design, until band is completely covered.
To make the center of the flower, gently push the lid (the flat) into the back of the screw band nearly half way, with the orange edged glue side facing the back, shiny part facing front (you won’t end up seeing it).
Fold the burlap over to double it and place two cotton balls in the center of the burlap.
Gather the edges together to form a flat “lollypop,” tie a piece of twine around the ends, and trim off the excess twine.
Using the shiny part of the lid as a guide for how big to make it, shape the “lollypop” with your hand, making sure it will fit over the lid.
Apply a generous amount of hot glue on the lid and press the burlap center into place.
To attach stem, put a dollop of hot glue on the top edge (on the back side) of the ring and another dollop on the bottom edge and glue the flower to the stick. Use enough glue to hold it firmly in place.
Hot glue the circular strip of cloth to the back of the flower, attaching it to the edge of the screw band back and the stem.
Find a nice vase to display your flower and enjoy!

A Few Notes

You can substitute regular material for the burlap for a different look. I’m experimenting with a western theme using a bandana center and strips of old jeans for the petals. (Strips 1/2 inch by 6 inches because the material is thick). Also, if you’d rather have something less rustic you can use dowels for the stems. I’ll update this post when I get pictures of them.

Okay, back to the crafting! Enjoy. If you get stuck, drop me an email at amy @ thewritehelper.com.