Preschool Posies for Mother's Day

It was a treat to volunteer in Celia's preschool class on Wednesday. I had a project in mind and her teachers graciously let me come in and work with the children. When I found 'Easter trees', simple clay pots with green floral wire stems, at the Dollar Tree store I immediately snatched a cart full. I knew that they would make the perfect base for one of a kind flower creations. 
To prepare for this activity I hauled out a bag of stiff felt scraps leftover from the library monster program. I ran the felt through my Sizzix 'Big Kick' machine to cut out an assortment of flower shapes. I've fallen in love with this versatile tool that will cut three layers of felt in a single pass. I also ran craft foam sheets through the Sizzix with the tag template so the children could write their name and 'MOM' on gift cards.

I hand cut leaf shapes out of green craft foam and used a 1/8" paper punch to make a hole in one end of each leaf. I dug through my supplies and discovered an interesting bag of plastic floral parts (salvaged from pulling apart silk flowers) and added them to a growing assortment of plastic, foam and pompom beads. I packed everything into a trusty laundry basket and tossed in a couple spools of ribbon. I was ready for action!

The children had no trouble threading the pieces onto the wires, my job was to help them figure out how to bend the wires over so that the beads and flowers wouldn't fall off. The kids jumped right into the assortment of supplies and made some gorgeous creations. They unexpectedly figured out how to thread some of the unusual flower parts onto the end of the wires. Fortunately the teachers had a glue gun on hand, after everyone finished, I was able to add a little glue to make sure their unique touches wouldn't fall off.

The children were proud of their work and I know their moms will enjoy their one of a kind centerpieces. Here's wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day!