We all know April showers bring May flowers, but why not make some flowers that will last year-round? These flowerpots made from a few simple materials make wonderful desk decorations, look great on kitchen counters, and especially make wonderful Mother's Day presents. Kids will love using their imagination and creativity to make ever-lasting flowers.

Materials

• Small clay pots

• Paint pens

• Glue

• Ribbon

• Plastic drinking straws

• Green pipe cleaners

• Scissors

• Pencil or pen

• Markers

• Colored craft foam (green, yellow and other colors of your choice)

• Spanish moss, rocks or other items (Anything that will hold the straws up in the pot.)

Project Guidelines

Decorate a clay pot. Have your child decorate a small clay pot using a paint pen. Draw hearts or write a message. I found some pots for 75 cents each at a local craft store. The paint pens are great because they dry almost instantly. For added detail, tie a ribbon around the pot. Another fun idea is to cut shapes out of foam squares and glue onto the pot.

Put some Spanish moss (or filler of your choice) in the pot this will help the flowers stand up on their own.

Make the flowers. There are many different shapes you can cut from the craft foam to create petals for the flowers. You can change the look of the flower by simply changing the shape of the petals. Let your kids choose the flower type and color. Try looking at pictures of flowers online or in books to get ideas.

PETALS: Trace a flower pattern onto the craft foam. Cut around your pattern. I layered my petals and used multiple petal cutouts for each flower, but you can also keep it simple by using only one cut out. Another way to be creative is to bend petals up and either glue them together or create a pattern that allows you to hook the petals together. When I traced my pattern, I cut slits in the right side of each petal and tabs on the left side. I simply inserted the tabs from one petal into the slits on the neighboring petal to make the flowers into a cup shape.

CENTER: Be sure to punch a small hole in the center for the "stem" if you plan to layer and stick the straw through. If you want to get really creative with the center, cut a long thin triangle of foam mine is about three-quarter inches wide at the bottom with sides about one and a half inches long. Cut the short end of the triangle into three strips by cutting twice (a little more than half way toward the point). Cut each strip into a point. Fold the point of the triangle and push it down into the straw. The end result will be three thin pointed strips of foam sticking out of the straw that look like pollen tubes.

LEAVES: Cut leaves out of the green craft foam. Once again, draw a pattern. I drew mine in a "V" shape and cut a hole in the bottom so that the leaves will fit onto the stem.

STEM: Wrap a green pipe cleaner tightly around a plastic drinking straw. This serves as the stem.

ASSEMBLE: Attach your flower foam cutout to the top of the pipe cleaner by gently sticking the metal wire of the pipe cleaner into the back of the foam square. To further secure it, add a dab of glue and let dry.

Insert the straw stem through the hole in the flower cut out.

Finally, simply place the flower or flowers into the pot. The moss in the bottom of the pot will hold the flowers in place.

You can add a personal touch by writing a message on the flower or adding a card.

Holly Harrison lives in Charleston and is a regular contributor to Lowcountry Parent. Address comments, questions or craft suggestions to editor@lowcountryparent.com.