A few years ago, my youngest daughter made me a beautiful flower as a Mother’s Day gift in school. I have moved that precious flower three times and still treasure it. These easy magazine flowers are a fun quick project to make for party decorations or for children to make as a Mother’s Day gift.
This is a great recycling project to use up those magazines and catalogs you have lying around.
Supplies
Old magazines and catalogs
Green pipe cleaners
Paper cutter or scissors
Hole punch
Take the magazines and catalogs and pull out the most colorful pages you can find. The picture isn’t important, you’re looking for bright colors. Text on the pictures is okay.
Cut the paper into strips 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide based on your preference. In cutting the paper strips, also consider the picture and any areas you want to cut out or preserve. Sort the paper strips into similar colors. The color groups don’t have to be exact (they aren’t in nature), just similar.
Fold the paper strip into a loop and punch a hole in the middle of the loop (be sure to punch the hole through both overlapping ends). 
If your paper strip has an eye or face in the middle, sometimes a carefully placed hole will keep it pretty and keep it from looking creepy (Little Shop of Horrors flower, anyone?).
Thread a pipe cleaner into the hole. Bend a little ledge into your pipe cleaner to keep the loops from sliding down your pipe cleaner while you’re assembling the flower.
Add paper strips until your flower is as full as you’d like. Twist the end of the pipe cleaner into a small loop to hold the paper strips in place.
Mix and match colors and patterns in your flowers to your creative heart’s content. Have fun making these happy little flowers
Warning: making these easy magazine flowers is addictive. You can’t make just one.
I’m a mom of 3, a veteran and military spouse. I’ve moved into 20+ homes all around the world. My passion is helping busy people make the space and time for what’s really important to them.
Cynthia L says
I love this and think it is the perfect Mother’s Day gift for little ones to make. I can also see these being made with Christmas wrapping paper and used on gifts! Great idea!
Holly @ Coconutheadsurvivalguide says
Hi Susan – What a fun and creative project for Mother’s Day! How great would these be in a pretty vase or hot glued or wrapped to make a wreath. Thanks for sharing! Hugs, Holly
susan says
It didn’t occur to me to make them into a wreath (I didn’t get the wreath making gene), what a great idea. I may just have to make my first wreath!
Kimberly says
So Cute! Pinned! Sending love your way. Lou Lou Girls
Jessica Martinez says
So cute! I can’t wait to make these tonight with my little men so they can give to their teachers this week!!
susan says
Jessica, how sweet. I love crafting with my kiddos, too.
Lisa | A Merry Mom says
These are so cute and a great way to recycle magazines! They would be great to replace bows on gifts from kids.
susan says
I was thinking the same thing about using them as embellishments on gift packages (great minds must think alike :).
sparx says
This is great, thanks! I am not an artist, not talented at anything, but I’ve volunteered to ‘art up’ a trash bin for an Earth Day/Spring celebration/Colorpalooza event, and would rather use what I have on hand, so I am thinking of using a stack of old magazines for flowers, butterflies, and (painted) grass around the bottom half, then painting the top half with light blue chalkboard paint and letting the little ones at the event be ‘skywriters.’ Do you have any thoughts about making the ‘grass’?
susan says
That sounds like such a fun activity (and you’re a good sport to volunteer!). What about cutting grass out of green magazine photos and using decoupage glue to glue it to the trash bin? I’m not an artist, so painting grass intimidates me, but I can cut and glue stuff. 🙂
Allisha Grant says
What was the length of the paper pieces I seen it’s 1/2 -1 inch wide but I don’t seem to find the length anywhere, unless I missed it
Susan says
Approximately 8 inches long. But you can can make the strips longer or shorter to change the size of the flower petals.