Pipe Cleaner Flowers

Materials:

• 2" Styrofoam ball
• 2 1/2" tall peat pot
• Green pompoms*
• Stones, marbles or other item for weight
• Pipe cleaners; 3 green and one each of 3 other colors
• 3 Pony beads; 9 x 6mm
• White glue
• Optional: Paints, markers, crayons or glitter pens to decorate the pot

*Sparkly ones look exceptionally nice.  If you use a 1 1/2" or larger pompom you will only need one but if you use smaller pompoms you may need more than one to get enough fuzz to cover the Styrofoam ball - see step #14.

1. Place a layer of stones, or other item in the bottom of the peat pot for weight.
2. Glue a 2" Styrofoam ball into the peat pot on top of the weights.  Set aside while we make the flowers.
3. Each flower uses one colored pipe cleaner, one green pipe cleaner and one pony bead.  Start by sliding the pony bead onto the center of one of the colored pipe cleaners.
4. Keeping the bead in the center of the pipe cleaner and holding the pipe cleaner horizontally, bring the end of the pipe cleaner from the right side of the bead around to the left side of the bead and insert it from left to right  through the center of the bead forming a loop.  Pull gently until the loop measures approximately 1" across.
5. Take the pipe cleaner that is on the left and bring it around and insert the end through the center of the bead from right to left forming a 1" loop.  You now have a bead in the center with two loops and two straight pieces coming out of it.
6. Take the straight piece on the right side and make a 1" loop and insert the end back into the right side of the bead.  Bend any remaining pipe cleaner from this piece up and over the bead.
7. Take the straight piece on the left side and make a 1" loop and insert the end back into the left side of the bead.  Bend any remaining pipe cleaner from this piece up and over the bead.
8. Cut a green pipe cleaner in half using wire cutters. Hint: Cutting pipe cleaners with scissors will damage the scissors.
9. Take one half of green pipe cleaner and thread the end through the pony bead on the backside of the flower.  Fold the end of the pipe cleaner over the bead.  This forms the flower's stem
10. Take the other piece of green pipe cleaner and twist the center of it around the flower's stem about one third to half way up the stem. Take the straight piece on the right side and make a 1" loop and insert the end back into the right side of the bead. Bend any remaining pipe cleaner from this piece up and over the bead.
11. Take each of the straight ends of this piece of pipe cleaner, one at a time, and bring the end into the stem forming a loop.  Wrap the end around the stem to keep in place.
12. Repeat steps 3 - 11 two more times for a total of three flowers.
13. Stick each flower into the Styrofoam in the pot.
14. Cut across the center of one of the green pompoms.  This should cause it to fall apart leaving you with a green fuzzy substance.  Using white glue, glue this to the surface of the Styrofoam ball (the portion that is visible).

The diagrams here will show you how to form a flower from a pipe cleaner as explained in steps 3-7 above.

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