These paper mum flowers are easy enough for kids to make and perfect for a homemade Mother’s Day card. All you need are a few paper circles, and some scissors and glue to make a unique card for the best mum ever”.
When we set out to make our Mother’s Day cards this year, I knew I wanted them to be flower cards, but I didn’t have a specific flower in mind. The fact that the kids ended up with paper mums to give to their mums was pure luck, and oh-so fitting for Mother’s Day.
My plan was for the kids to make a more advanced version of the circular paper flowers that they made for their Mother’s Day cards when they were preschoolers.
It wasn’t until we got our cards finished, and I did some Googling to see what kind of flower they resembled that I realized they looked a whole lot like crysanthemums, which are commonly referred to as mums.
How perfect for a Mother’s Day card!
Skill level
These paper flower mums are easy to make, but they do require some care and attention when you’re cutting the petals. If you make your cuts too close together, it’s easy to cut off a whole section of your petals. For that reason this craft is best suited for kids with well-developed scissor skills.
Younger children can stick with the simpler version of these flowers.
Vary the colours of your layers
Something that worked well was using a variety of different papers for the layers of our flowers. We used various shades of pink card stock for the pink mums for example, and for each flower, we cut at least one layer out of our homemade marbled paper.
Having that variation in the layers really adds interest and dimension to our paper mums.
Get creative with a Mum Pun
By the time we realized our flowers were mums, we’d already written on our cards, so we didn’t incorporate a pun into our messages. You certainly can though!
Something like “My ‘MUM’S’ the Best”, or “World’s Best ‘Mum'” would be cute.
P.S. Check out our “tie dye dress” cards and our “fancy dress” cards too!
To make our Paper Flower Mum Card, You’ll Need:
Supplies
- Paper – we used various colours of card stock and homemade marbled paper
- Craft stick and green paint (for the stem)
- Green paper for the leaves
- Pencil
- Circle stencil (or round things to trace in various sizes)
- Scissors
- Glue
- Cardstock for the card
- Markers (we love these Sharpies)
How to Make a Paper Flower Mum
- Cut out your circles
For each flower, cut several circles in different sizes plus one small yellow circle for the center of the flower. For more interest use a variety of colours and shades for each layer of the flower.
- Cut your petals
To make the petals of your mums, make cuts around the edge of each paper circle. Space the cuts close together, and snip towards, but not all the way into the center of the circle.
- Curl your petals
Next, gently press the petals around a pencil to curve them inwards. Do the same with the yellow piece you’ve cut for the center of the flower.
- Layer your circles
Layer your circles from largest to smallest, and glue them in place.
- Make your stems
For our stems, we used Starbucks stir sticks which we painted green, but you can just use green card stock if you like. We cut our stir sticks to different lengths to vary the height of the flowers on our cards.
- Assemble your card
Fold a piece of card stock in half to form your card, glue the flowers and stems in place and add some paper leaves. Finish by adding a written message.
And that’s all there is to making an adorable paper flower mums Mother’s Day card!
To all of the amazing mums out there, Happy Mother’s Day!
Homemade Mother’s Day Gift Ideas:
If you’re looking for a homemade gift to make to make for Mother’s Day, we have lots of terrific ideas here:
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
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