Clay Pot Sunflowers

                                                                                                   



Don't you just love shopping at the Dollar Store?  I know I do.  There's always something  that catches my eye for making craft projects. The package of little clay pots I found recently are no exception.  Right away I knew I was gonna make something out of crepe paper rolls, a pk of asst. styrofoam balls and flower pots.  Spring is here and even though it's been a bit chilly and rainy to be outside, there's nothing wrong with making something in anticipation of warmer weather.








To make the clay pot sunflowers,
take the largest of the styrofoam balls and with the palm of your hand, mash down the foam ball on a hard surface until flatten like in the picture. This will be the "center" of the sunflower.













Using your thumb, press into the center of the flatten styrofoam ball to make a slight depression.













Paint the flattened ball with brown acrylic paint and


fill the flower pot with crumbled newspaper.












Cut out a cardboard circular disk and place on top of the crumbled newspaper.













Glue the painted flattened ball to the cardboard disk.











Fold several pieces of crepe paper together and cutout lots sunflower petals. It's so much easier and quicker to cut the petals freehand.

Did you know there are lots of petals in sunflowers?  I read somewhere that there are at least 34-38. Wow!




















Glue (used tacky glue) the petals continuously around the perimeter of the pot. 









Place shorter versions of petals toward the center.








Layering as many petals as you like.
















For the stem, I painted a dowel rod green and wrapped a cut piece of coat hanger wire (heavy duty to support pot) around the rod and inserted the wire end (hot glued) into the small opening of the pot. Doing this allowed the pot to be placed at an angle.

A skewer would fit into the hole and wrapping with wire could be eliminated by slightly tilting the pot and attach it at an angle through the pot hole to the stem, but I wanted to use something larger than a skewer for a more proportioned look.





Insert the rod (hot glued) into a larger clay pot filled with florist foam.




 Glue artificial leaves to the stem.



Cover the foam in the pot with moss.







Decorate the larger pot.  I glued flat clear gems around the rim to add a bit of bling, but it's unlimited as to how you can decorate your own. You might want to decorate the pots before putting everything together. 















    The clay pot sunflowers look even cuter when you make more than one.

 I'm loving these little clay pot sunflowers!    Don't you want to make some?


Take a little time to enjoy!