Recycled Flower Wreath

It's finally starting to actually feel like spring around these parts (thank goodness). The snow has melted, the days are warmer, and the trees are starting to bud. I even saw some dandelions today! To celebrate the end of the winter doldrums, my toddler and I made this fun flower wreath for our door. It's a cute, simple craft that's basically free, since it's made from things that were just going into the dumpster anyway. What's not to love? 

For the base of the wreath, I cut a circle out from a (non-greasy) pizza box. My circle is about 11" in diameter. I left a small semicircle at the top and hole punched it so that I could thread some yarn through later in order to hang it on our door.  

The flowers and leaves are all made out of a cardboard egg carton. Using scissors or an exacto-knife (I switched back and forth between the two), I cut the "cups" of the bottom half of the egg carton out and trimmed them into flower shapes. I basically just cut them at random and didn't worry about making the flowers perfect or precise looking, which I think makes it a tad more whimsical than matching flowers (plus, lazy). Then I cut the tops and sides of the egg carton into leaves. I ended up using 2 egg cartons to make all the pieces. 

Now comes the fun part: painting! My toddler loves art projects, so I let him go to town on this one. (It was also a good exercise for me in letting go and not trying to be a perfectionist about things.) I recommend using an old cookie tray as a paint surface, since the flowers can get messy. And, if you're handing the paintbrush over to a little one like I did, I would highly recommend washable paint. 

I was pretty impressed by how well this project held his attention. Even though there were a good number of flowers, he was excited enough to paint all but two of them. So this project also doubles as a parenting win in my book. I finished up the last two flowers for him and then painted the leaves and the wreath base green. I tried to paint the leaves various shades of green to make it a bit more interesting looking. 

The final step was assembly. Once they were dry, I arranged the flowers and leaves on the wreath base. Then I opted for my trusty hot glue gun to secure them in place. I tied a bit of green yarn to the hanger and, voila! Flower wreath! 

I just love how bright and springy it turned out and I especially love that my son had so much fun with it. I hope that this inspires you to make some fun springtime crafts of your own! Happy crafting!