Crafty Mom: Thumbprint flowers for Mother's Day

Here’s a quick and easy craft for Mother’s Day or any time you’re looking to brighten someone’s day!

Begin making your flowers by cutting flower shapes out of construction paper or card stock. I traced around a flower-shaped cookie cutter to create a pattern for ours. Cut out two of each color you want to make because you will need a front and a back for each flower.

Put various colors of paint out for thumb-printing. We used washable tempera paint and I squirted dots of color onto a plastic lid I’d saved from a food container. You could also use washable stamp pads instead of paint.

Start by dipping a thumb into a color and making a print in the center of the flower. Wipe off the paint/ink from the thumb. Choose a different color and make thumbprints on each petal. Repeat for as many flowers as you’d like to make. Remember it takes two flower shapes to create one completed flower!

Once the paint is dry, align two flowers of the same color back-to-back, so that your flower now has a painted front and back. Insert a green chenille stem (pipe cleaner) in between the flowers to serve as the stem and glue it all together. I used my hot glue gun so that it’d be ready instantly. If you don’t have pipe cleaners, be creative; consider using a straw, plastic utensil, or wooden skewer instead.

That’s all there is to it! So, to all you dads and children-old-enough-to-read out there: I *know* you have not waited until the last minute to think about a Mother’s Day gift, but on the off chance you have, never fear because these thumbprint flowers can be completed from start to finish in just an hour or two. Best of all, no green thumb needed…well, except maybe a painted one! ;)

Happy Mother’s Day!