It's perfect for Easter, springtime, Mother’s day, or any day!
You can make the flowers from plain paper (works best for young children), or make fancier flowers from tissue paper. Kids who can color, cut, and glue can do the project themselves or with a little assistance, but they may need an adult to help cut the hole in the paper plate.
Supplies
- two paper plates
- scraps of colored paper or tissue paper
- green paper
- glue
- tape
- scissors
- markers
- ribbon (optional)
Plain Paper Flowers
First, draw flower shapes on colored paper. You’ll need about eight flowers to fill the basket. The basket looks best with lots of different colors. Use yellow for daffodils, purple for irises, pink for tulips or roses, orange for lilies, or blue for pansies. Or make up flowers of your own!
Cut out the colored paper flowers, and decorate the flowers with markers.
Tissue Paper Flowers
Here’s a very simple way to make tissue paper flowers. Cut six squares of tissue paper, about 2” to 5” in size. Lay the pieces on top of each other and trim the edges off, forming a stack of circles. (They don’t have to be perfectly round.) Pinch the center of the circles and scrunch the paper together. Gently ruffle out the layers of paper into petals. Make four to eight flowers of varying colors and sizes.
Or, look for more tissue paper flower ideas.
Make Stems and Leaves
Cut stems from strips of green paper, making some of them longer and some of them shorter. Cut a few leaves, and glue the leaves to the stems. Glue the stems to the backs of the flowers.
Make the Basket
Cut one paper plate in half. Keep one half for the front of the basket. (Recycle the other half, or save it for another basket.) Place the half-plate face up, as if you were going to eat from it. Place the flowers face down along the cut edge of the plate. (It’s fine for them to overlap a little.) Tape the stems to the plate.
Cut away half of the inner part of the other paper plate, leaving the outer edge for a handle. (You may need to poke a hole in the plate with a sharp pencil or scissors to get started.) Glue the lower edges of the paper plates together. This makes a basket full of flowers.
Write a message (such as Happy Easter! or Enjoy Spring! or Happy Mother's Day!) on the front of the basket.
For a finishing touch (optional), tie a bow on the handle.
The paper plate flower basket is ready for giving as a gift, hanging up, or filling with Easter treats!
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