Paper Primrose Posy

There was a steep, grassy bank near our house when I was little. It was a great thinking spot - sitting up high, looking out over the garden, and at this time of year it was covered in primroses - a soft, delicate blanket of yellow. Anytime I see them now it takes me right back. So, these paper primroses are a nod to my wildflower bank, where I got lost in big, happy dreams.

They’re based on the paper daisy folding technique - though a little different because the petals are sort of heart shaped.

You will need:
yellow and green paper or plain paper to paint
sheet of newspaper
small plastic flower pot or yogurt pot
yellow and orange paint
PVA craft glue
Two small bottles or pots, for circle templates. One a little bigger than the other (for leaves).

If you have a small plastic flower pot, then that’s perfect - we didn’t, so I rubbed some sandpaper over a yogurt pot to take the sheen off, and painted it with multi-surface primer the night before. 

Make up some terracotta coloured paint using ready-mixed poster or acrylic paints. 

Mix red and yellow together and add just a little blue - then a good amount of white until you’re happy with the colour. I find adding white helps cover shiny, awkward surfaces like this - it works a treat on the outside of cereal box card too.

To speed things up, you could always cover the writing on the yogurt pot with a piece of colourful wrapping paper cut to size. Cut this strip into smaller sections so it’s easier to glue neatly to the pot. 

While the glue or the paint is drying, draw round the smaller circle template for your primrose and cut it out.

Fold the circle in half, then half again.

Draw a straight line up from the tip to the top, and make a mark halfway along the line.
Draw another line passing through this point from side to side .

Then draw the rounded top part of a petal (like a semi-circle), from the point where the lines cross, curved up to the top and back down to the end of the line on both sides.  Make sure they look alike.

Carefully cut round the petal tips with small scissors and when you’re happy they look even, open up your primrose.

To make the flower centre, put a small dab of orange in the middle, and two short, thick strokes of yellow, touching the orange, at the base of two heart-shaped petals.
Fold the flower in half, gently pressing the sides together.

Put two tiny touches of orange at the end of the original two yellow strokes and fold again. They’ll all be just that little bit different.

To make the leaves, draw round your larger circle template and cut it out.

Fold this in half, then half again.

About a cm up from the tip, draw a line straight across and mark a halfway point.

Draw a curved half leaf shape from this point to the top corner and repeat on the other side, so both look alike.

Cut carefully around the leaf tops and open up.

Put a dab of glue on the back of a flower and stick it onto a leaf. Make about 10 or 12.

Scrunch up the sheet of newspaper and stick it into the flower or yogurt pot, making sure a decent amount of it sits proud in a good mound shape.

Glue on your primroses

overlap them, as that’s the way they like to be - bunched up close together.

Easy Paper Flowers

More flowers! Made from paper this time, and really quick to do. Good cutting practice for kids too and it's fun opening up your folded, snipped piece of paper to see what's there….

You will need:

Coloured paper or plain paper to paint
General purpose scissors

For the other projects:

Small scissors (like nail scissors)
Ball of plasticine or modelling clay
Pipe cleaner
White card
Paint
Buttons
Ribbon, braid, string
PVA craft glue

1.  Find things to draw around in the kitchen, like tins, jars or side plates.

2.  It's best to start with a big circle first, to get some practice. Draw around your shape and cut it out.

3  Fold the circle in half, then in quarters and then eighths.

4.  About 1cm (1/2") up from the tip, draw a line straight across and mark it in the middle.

5.  Draw a petal shape from this mark to a top corner and repeat on the other side, making sure the petals look alike.

6.  Then, cut carefully along the pencil lines, making sure the tip of both petals stays pointy - and open up your flower.

7.  When you've made a few and feel more confident, try some smaller circles, so you can build up  flowers with a few petal layers.

8.  If you'd like to make a daisy to add to a spring flower posy from last time, put one of your cut-outs on a ball of plasticine and push the closed tip of the small scissors through the middle of the paper. Don't make the hole too big.

9.  Push a pipe cleaner up through the hole and bend the top 3cm (1") over at a right-angle - then carefully spiral the bendy wire around itself, to make the centre of you flower. Push the paper back up under the pipe cleaner centre.

Making some flower bunting or a daisy chain is another fun thing to do with your cut-out flowers.

10. Find a longish piece ribbon or something similar, and cut to the length you want for your bunting. We used quite thin sequin braid, with a bit of sparkle, but to be honest thicker is better for stable bunting that doesn't swing about too much. 

11. Chose three different sized circles - for the outer petals, inner petals and the centre. 

12. A bottle lid makes a good centre circle template - we went for yellow middles, but pick whatever colour you like. Cut out flowers from the other bigger circles, and make enough of each to space out along your ribbon (roughly 20cm (8") between our flowers). 

13. Glue the centres in the middle of the inner petals, then brush a good amount of glue all over the middle section of the biggest flower and lay the ribbon over it, a little above the halfway point, to stop it flipping over when it's hanging up.

14. Next, dab a bit more glue on the back of the inner petals and stick them down over the ribbon and position so the petals are between the ones below.

15. Repeat along your ribbon - use a ruler or tape measure to space them evenly - then leave to dry.

16. To make a daisy chain, cut out white flowers with yellow centres and glue them straight onto the ribbon. The small yellow centres can be more fiddly to cut, so, if you want just paint them on instead.

17. Smaller flowers make lovely card decorations too. My daughter made these - some with painted centres and some with buttons, which worked really well. The vase is cut out from an old birthday card.

I've had a little primrose idea….

What is Jumble Tree?

Jumble tree grew out of my other blog - A Patchwork Life.

I started sharing some of the crafts I made with the kids, and slowly but surely realised I loved the challenge of coming up with new ideas. Happily, other people seemed to like them too.

There are so many fantastic sites out there, covering all aspects of kids craft - so, I'm going to stick to what I know and what I enjoy, which is developing and adding to ideas to see where they go!

This is what happened with Roll Up to the Zoo - it started with a lion and a lioness, then there was zebra, followed by a giraffe…and the Zoo just kept on growing.
Now we have all manner of creatures, with enclosures and trees and mini food…and this is what I mean by creating a scene!

I found my (now 7 year old) daughter loved being involved in something we could build on - it made her think, and use her imagination. She came up with a few of the ideas herself, like the turtles and the flamingo. She learnt new skills that she could practice because they were repeated in the different animal projects. Cutting slots is a good example, and snipping round small shapes. I got some pretty outlandish requests too - like a whale, but that's what I love - finding ways to make things happen. (Haven't tried a whale yet, but we did make a shark!)

And everything is made from stuff we all have at home - all that cardboard packaging that usually ends up in the recycling bin. This is another important part of Jumble Tree - making the most of what's already in the house. It's cheap, environmentally friendly and it's all just sitting there, waiting to be transformed into something!

A pile of cardboard tubes, egg boxes and cereal packets is a pile of possibilities, but it's not an exact science - packaging varies, so it's important not to worry if your egg box looks different from the picture - be ready to adapt and work with what you've got. This really is half the fun - putting your own personal spin projects. Whatever you make will be unique, and that's the beauty of this kind of craft.

Most Jumble Tree crafts are for school age children (5+) Remember to supervise all projects - you are the best judge of how much help your child needs, but let them have a go at some of the more challenging bits too - the more they do, the more fun they'll have, and the better they'll get.

When I started blogging about the crafts I do with the kids, I had no idea where it might lead. Fast forward a few years and I'm now writing my first kids craft book, to be published in the summer. Still can't quite believe it!
You just never know, do you.