Earth Day Flower Crafts

I came up with this recycled craft in honor of Earth Day.

Materials:

• newspaper
• scissors
• watercolor paints
• paintbrush
• construction paper 
• pencil
• buttons (optional)
• decorative scissors (optional)
• lids, cups, bowls, plates, etc. for tracing
• drinking straws, pipe cleaners, or yarn (optional)

Directions:

1. Trace various sized circles onto newspaper. (I used lids and plastic containers from the recycling bin for this, but you could also use cups, bowls, or plates.)
2. Fill in circles with watercolor paints. 
3. Allow to dry and then cut out circles using scissors or decorative scissors. I used some with scalloped and zigzag edges, for example.
4. Layer and arrange circles as desired to form flowers. When you're happy with the arrangement, glue flowers onto construction paper.
5. Add extra decorative touches to the flowers if desired. I used buttons for the flower's centers, but you could also make stems using straws, pipe cleaners, or yarn.

   

   {Mia, age 4, put her own spin on this craft. After cutting out her circles, she pinched them into flowers and added pipe cleaner stems like we had done when we made coffee filter carnations.}