Veterans Day is a special day to honor and thank all of our military friends and family for their service to our country. We could not enjoy the freedoms we have without their work and sacrifices. While Memorial Day honors our fallen military personnel, Veterans Day honors all veterans, particularly living veterans. We want them to know we thank them for their service!
Today we’re making a poppy wreath, which can be made for either Veterans Day or Memorial Day in May. We also have a fantastic set of printable Veterans Day worksheets, too!
Materials you will need to make this poppy wreath:
- Red, orange and black crepe paper
- Small cotton balls
- Green pipe cleaners or floral wire
- Green floral tape
- Scissors
- Small (8″) grapevine wreath
Start out by cutting 6 pieces of green pipe cleaner or floral wire each about 6″ long. Floral wire may be easier to work with. Take your red and orange crepe paper and cut out a total of 36-48 petals (6-8 petals for each flower) about 2-3″ in diameter. If your paper is on a small roll, it may be quicker to fold a few long strips in half a few times and make one cut. The larger the petals, the larger the poppy! Each poppy will also need 1 or 2 black circles as well.
Take a stem, insert it halfway through the bottom of a small cotton ball and gently wrap the ball with a black circle. Secure the paper to the stem with a piece of the floral tape. The floral tape may stick better to floral wire than to pipe cleaners. Repeat this step for each of your stems.
Gather your all your petals. Gently crinkle them by loosely balling them up and flattening them out again. Using the uncovered end of your stem, gently pierce the middle of a black circle and raise it to the top around the center. (This step is optional!)
Next, pierce a red or orange petal not in the middle, but rather off center and bring to the top of the flower. This will give a variety of lengths to the petals. Give each poppy 6-8 petals in red, orange or both!
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A grapevine wreath will make placing and securing your poppies very easy. Insert the end of each stem between the vines and carefully wrap it back around tightly to minimize the poppy looking limp or loose. Do this for each flower. You can make additional poppies if you want your whole wreath filled!
Here’s our weekly kids craft video with visual instructions:
