Things You'll Need:
- Baskets
- Foam blocks
- Silk or plastic poinsettias (red, pink, white) (small and medium in size)
- Filler flowers (baby's breath, carnations, mums, daisies) (optional)
- Floral picks (birds, bees, butterflies, dragonflies)
- Packaged moss
- Crafting glue
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks (optional)
- Crafting scissors
- Floral tape (optional)
- Blunt knife
- Popsicle sticks (optional)
- Crafters Non-Toxic paint and brushes (optional)
- Silk Ribbon (optional)
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Step 1
Prior to creating the baskets, a little bit of initial prep work is necessary to have all of the supplies ready for the children to use.
Start prepping the supplies by taking a foam block and using the knife, cut or trim the foam to fit each individual basket according to its size and shape.
The foam piece should fill the majority of the basket from side to side and should reach within 1 inch of the rim allowing room to add moss. -
Step 2
Secure the foam piece to the basket by placing a small dollop of crafters glue on the bottom of the basket, then press the foam piece into place.
Prep silk, plastic and filler flowers purchased as individual stems or in bouquets. Use the crafting scissors to clip each stem away from the bouquet so it becomes an individual stem. Clip and remove any leaves near the bottom of the stem. For single stemmed flowers, remove the leaves and trim the length of the stem, if necessary. -
Step 3
Using a small piece of floral tape, wrap and secure the tape around the ends of the flower stems to cover the wire tip inside the plastic or silk sheathing. This will prevent anyone from being scratched by the end of the cut wire. Prepare each stem with tape, then set aside.
Prepare a work area for creating the poinsettia baskets using a large table, bar or counter space. Line the surface with newspaper for easy clean up.
Once all of the baskets have foam and flower stems are taped, place all of the supplies at the work area including the baskets, poinsettias, assorted filler flowers, decorations and moss where they can be easily reached by the children. -
Step 4
Begin the project by having the children add moss all around the perimeter of the basket they have chosen to decorate to fill in any gaps between the basket and the foam block.
Suggest that they start in the center of the block by inserting one or two of the largest poinsettias into the foam. Make sure the stem is pushed down far enough into the block to hold the flower securely.
Once a main flower has been placed, the children can continue to add poinsettia flowers and assorted filler flowers all around the perimeter of the block until it is full. -
Step 5
Once all of the flowers are in place, take a small amount of moss and cover the top of the foam block by pushing the foam in-between the flower stems.
Next, add the assorted decorative floral picks placing each pick securely into the foam block. -
Step 6
Using decorations that are not attached to a floral pick is possible by gluing a small plastic or nylon decoration onto one end of a pre-painted Popsicle stick, allowing the glue to dry, and then inserting the opposite end of the stick into the foam block.
Finish by tying multi-colored ribbons around the base of the basket. Glue can be used to hold the ribbon in place.
