Flower Christmas ornament

This year I decided to show my daughters how to make a Christmas ornament that I used to love making as a child. What started off as sharing some nostalgia, bloomed into something more precious than I had anticipated as Lacey added her own idea to it that just made it even better. These are also great for a seasonal activity!

When I made these as a child, the sunflower seeds would be layered right to the center. As we made our third layer of petals, Lacey said to me “We need pollen mummy, don’t forget flowers have pollen.” and so the chia seed centers were added thanks to my little wildflower and the result is so beautiful! 



To make these flower ornaments you will need:
-Cardboard (great opportunity to recycle packaging)
-Something to trace your circles
-Pen/pencil and scissors
-Glue (we use craft glue for these but other glues may work)
-sunflower seeds
-chia seeds
-string 

  1. Trace your circles on the cardboard, 2 per ornament. Then cut them all out.
  2. Blank side up, put a ring of glue around the edge of the circle (half a ring if your children like to take their time). Add sunflower seeds on the glue, narrow side face center, wide side just over the edge of the circle. Let glue dry.
  3. Once your first layer has dried, put another ring of glue inside the circle and add your sunflower seeds for the next layer of ‘petals’. Let dry and repeat this one more time. 
  4. Once your three layers of petals are done fill the Center with some glue and sprinkle chia seeds in. Press the chia seeds lightly into the glue and let dry.
  5. Once all your sunflowers are done it’s time to attach them together. Take some string and tie a knot so you have your hanging loop. Leave enough string below the knot to be inbetween your flower sides.
  6. Turn one of your flowers face down, put glue on then add the string in the center with the knot above the circle. Gently add the second sunflower on, right side up and very carefully press together. Allow to dry.



Now if you’d like to make an outside version for the birds, I’d recommend attaching the circles together with the string first, then trying peanut butter to stick your seeds. 

This craft is great for fine motor skills as well! If you make one please tag me @deerandfawns on IG and Deer and Fawns Education on FB. I would love to see!

-M 🌏✌️✨



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DIY finger labyrinth

Image
Regularly we will go on family labyrinth walks because (gratefully) there is a beautiful stone labyrinth in a nearby town that we often visit. They are so fascinating and universal through history and mythology across the globe. They have been found on amulets from ancient Egypt, Mycenaean seals, Etruscan vases, Native American paintings and on coins from Crete just to name a few.   Starting off activities for the letter L, I thought this was a great opportunity to create our own finger labyrinth for at home as they are such a beautiful spiritual tool and we are all about mindfulness. The fawns watched a couple videos on the history of labyrinths, how people build modern labyrinths and learnt a bit about what they mean to different cultures and religion. We had a look at the different forms in which labyrinths can take and chose to go with the classic labyrinth.  Using a smaller version with fewer circuits they placed rocks and crystals along the lines I had marked for them giving a go
Read more

Flying bird papercraft

Image
This bird papercraft is so easy to make and you can adjust it to make particular birds or let your imagination run wild to create your own unique bird.  What would need -Cardboard -Paper -String -Glue -Desired medium to decorate with -Small hole punch (or something pointy to create a hole - I used one of my craft tools) How to make it First draw out a bird body on the cardboard. It doesn’t need to be perfect, the only part you want to rule straight is the back so the wings sit right on it when attached. Optional to you but I cut out tails separately and glued them on before decoration so the bird body was the same for them all. Once you’re happy with your bird body, cut it out and trace it on the cardboard for multiple birds. I added a crest onto the cockatoo one before cutting it out. For the wings, fold a piece of paper in half and draw your wing shape, cut it out and open - there’s your wing! Just trace that on more paper and cut out for multiple birds. Remember it doesn’t have to b
Read more

DIY Willow bird nest

Image
This DIY bird nest is great for Spring lessons, play or seasonal displays. The fawns do love birds and I thought a fantastic activity would be an invitation for them to create their very own nests with a range of provided materials. As I've been inspired by nature crafts lately involving willow and weaving, I thought I would create a nest for them that we can use whenever we learn about birds, spring etc. This is my first time crafting with willow and I'm pretty happy with it. 😊 For their invitation to build a nest it will serve as an example prop.  Getting started, of course you will need some willow branches. How many will depend on the size of the nest you wish to create. Start with a handful. You can keep some of the leaves attached if you wish, I kept a few of the smallest ones on here and through out my nest. Some may come off during the weaving process.  Now I started from the top of the nest and worked my way down and in to the bottom. I haven't yet tried the other
Read more