My girls made some gorgeous blue and white painted paper a couple of weeks ago and I had some left over. And after seeing my oak-leaved hydrangeas in all their glory this summer, and the blue balls of petals in my neighbors’ yards, I knew just what to do. Painted paper hydrangeas.
Supplies
Painted paper is amazing. There is nothing like being given the go-ahead to just paint and texture the paper to their heart’s content without really having to make everything. And lest you wonder what you do when kids are done just painting a piece of paper, there are so many beautiful projects out there that use up this paper in ways that only enhance the art project.
- Painted paper in blues, purples, and whites
- Pencil or crayon
- Scissors
- Glue
- Green crayon, marker, oil pastel, or watercolor paint
- Crayons or oil pastels
- Another sheet of painted paper, cardstock, or construction paper in a warm tone
Instructions
Fold a long piece of painted paper over to make a two inch strip where the painted portion is on the inside and you can draw on the white side.
Draw the top half of a heart, approximately 1 inch big. Flip the paper, draw another heart that connects to the first. This makes a petal.
Repeat this step across the strip of the paper.
Cut out the petals.
Repeat steps 2-4 until you have approximately 20-30 petals.
On a piece of white sulphite paper, draw a long stem, and a leaf with the black oil pastel.
Tell kids to place a single dot of glue in the middle of each petal and place it near the top of the stem, making a row. (This makes the petals slightly stick out which gives the painted paper hydrangeas a 3D effect.)
Continue adding petals and making rows above the initial row, making sure they slightly overlap and working slowly towards making smaller and smaller rows.
Use a green medium of your choice to color the stem and leaf.
Cut out the finished hydrangea, and glue it onto a piece of painted paper. Ideally, a warm color will provide the biggest contrast.
Let kids decorate the background if they feel it needs more patterns, a vase, a sun, etc, with oil pastels.