Mother’s day is just around the corner.  This year, just as last year, my little ones are home with me.  While I absolutely love being home with them (most days) I do miss out on a few things from having them in daycare … and one thing that I really miss is sweet little kid-made Mama gifts for Mother’s day.  So this year I decided to have my little ones make one anyways – we made pretty paper cup flowers.

Why not?  I knew that my Sam would love to be able to give me something he made on Mother’s day – and I certainly knew he wouldn’t mind if I was the one to set it up!  These paper cup flowers are very simple to make, and a wonderfully creative process for little ones too!  I would make something very similar with my Kindergarteners for Mother’s Day.

How to Make Paper Cup Flowers

First of all, I added some paint to the inside of a paper cup.  The first cup I just put some in the middle, but for the next two I drizzled it around the inside of the cup, which seemed to work a bit better.

Next, Sam popped a round stone inside the cup and got to swirling.  We turned the cup upside down (on a plastic lid) and he swirled and swirled.  Occasionally he would stop to peek in, checking to see if we needed more paint, more swirling, or simply to admire his work.

We did this to three cups, using different colors of paint, and let them dry.

After, Sam cut down lines down towards the middle of the cup, leaving the petals half an inch or so wide, and folded the petals back.

Finally, I poked a hole in the middle of each cup and Sam attached all three cups together with a pipe cleaner stem.  I kinked the pipe cleaner in between each cup, so it would space them out a little bit.

And there you have it – how to make paper cup flowers!  Beautiful for a spring craft, or for a lucky Mama on Mother’s Day.  I have a strange suspicion that Sam’s Mama is really going to like hers … but we will have to wait to find out – he ran down the hall to hide it until Mother’s Day.

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