Legend of the Poinsettia Book+Craft=FUN

After finishing our snowflakes I had an idea to make poinsettias for Christmas to go along with the book the Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola. They didn't quite turned out how envisioned but they add some brightness just the same.

 

They are fairly simple to do. They don't look as much like poinsettias as I hoped but I think they are still pretty :)

All you need is coffee filters, water colour paints, scissors, marker, paintbrushes, pipe cleaners, doilies, and newspaper.

First paint your coffee filters with a red water colour paint. We used Sargent Arts glitter water colours to give them a bit of sparkle too. I always dilute the liquid water colours so they spread easier and last longer. Set aside to dry.

Now paint a small doily (our doilies were 4 1/2"in diameter) with yellow water colour paint. You can add a bit of red to give it an orange tint too if you want.

If you paint your doilies on a sheet of newspaper then you can just add more paint to it when your doilies are finished as you need some painted newspaper.You can keep it all yellow or add some red to make orange and set aside to dry.

When your coffee filters are dry you start out the same way as you did with the snow flake by folding it in half, then half again, and then half it a third time (see picture below).

You can cut the petals freehand or you can draw them on for smaller children as shown below.

Next take the painted newspaper and cut it into a circle shape that is slightly smaller then the doily. Fringe the edges with scissors as shown below.

Next push a pipe cleaner through the center of the coffee filter, then the doily and then the newspaper circle. Twist the pipe cleaner on the front and the back to keep the flower steady.

Scrunch up the whole flower with your hands. Open your flower back up making sure not to completely flatten it. You want it to have some depth.

Volia!  A beautiful Christmas centerpiece! They might be better left white with orange and yellow centers to be narcissus is you wanted them to be more Christmasy looking as they didn't really turn into poinsettias but they are nice and cheery for a winters day craft :)