Poppy Wreath

We made this easy and inexpensive wreath for Nan to hang on her door for Remembrance Day.  On day in Canada we focus on how we can maintain peace to prevent further wars in the world.  Poppies are spoken of in the famous WW1 time poem by Canadian John McCrae who was a officer and a surgeon. Find the poem here: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/in-flanders-fields.  Both our my grandfather and great grandfather were involved in WW2, one providing fire training at home and the other on the front lines in Europe, returning home from a Prisoner of War camp with Tuberculosis. 

Materials

• Foam wreath form
• Toothpicks (you can cut the sharp ends off if you wish or use with direct, adult supervision)
• Coffee filters
• Liquid watercolour paints or food colouring
• Beads (you can paint wood beads or use coloured beads)
• Glue gun/ glue
• Paint brush
• Cooling rack

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Paint your coffee filters and allow them to dry.  We used a cooling rack to speed up the process, making red for the petals and green for the leaves.

• Paint your wooden beads.  We used a BBQ skewer with the sharp end cut off inserted into floral foam and painted the beads in a vertical fashion.   Allow to dry.

• Glue a bead onto the top of your skewer to form the centre of your poppy.  We put a smaller bead on top to cover the hole/ glue.

• We then layered the filters with reds on the top and greens underneath to form a poppy flower.

• Insert the end of your toothpick into your layers of coffee filters.  You may need an adult to help you with this step.  Be sure not to do too many at once and not to poke yourself.

• Once you have your flower complete,  insert it into your foam and repeat until your wreath is complete.  Hang it on your door!

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Purpose

• Recognizing symbols associated various cultural events.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use toothpicks with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.