Kid Craft: DIY Pressed Flower Suncatcher (with Real Flowers!)

This DIY pressed flower suncatcher craft is a perfect project for kids. Kids can make these for Mother’s Day gifts, holiday gifts, or any occasion!

My little one and I have been working on this super cute DIY pressed flower suncatcher for his Grandma for Mother’s Day, which is this Sunday! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?! Please tell me I’m not the only one!! 

Guys, this is SO SO easy. I feel like I say that in every post. I guess that’s the common theme of my blog: I want everyone to be able to make stuff, whatever that “stuff” may be, even if you have kids, work, laundry, or cleaning to do! 

You don’t have to make a farmhouse dining room table (but I would love to!!). I love promoting easy crafts that all of us busy mamas can do, when we should be doing work, laundry, cleaning, etc, haha!!

Anyway, back to the pressed flower suncatcher:

Two small pressed flower suncatchers made with pink and purple pressed dried flowers in craft hoops. Image text overlay reads

I love how cute these beautiful flower suncatcher gifts turned out. I forgot to mention the best part, this requires almost zero mama involvement! Liam was able to basically do everything himself. Mama win!

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DIY Pressed Flower Suncatcher Supplies:

I let Liam pick whatever paint he wanted since it was his present.

 And since his mama has basically every color ever made, he had a wide selection to choose from. He chose a pearly pink, neon green, and sunflower yellow.

Small bottles of green, yellow, and pink acrylic craft paint lined up on a table. A dollop of green pain sits on a white paper plate, along with an empty craft hoop.

Step 1: Paint the Embroidery Hoop

We painted the outside of the embroidery hoop. I removed the center portion for painting so it didn’t get painted shut (but both parts of each embroidery hoop were painted). 

I really didn’t have much involvement in the painting, I let him do his own thing. 

Of course this backfired. See next picture:

A little boy in a red shirt proudly smiles, holding up his green and yellow paint-covered hand and paint brush while making pressed flower suncatchers.

I can’t even be mad that he painted his whole arm. Look at that face!! {heart eyes}

Step 2: Pick Your Favorite Flowers

Now on to Liam’s favorite part: picking the flowers for the sun catchers!! We have some amazing lavender trees in our backyard. They are so fragrant and wonderful!! He picked a ton of those. We also have an azalea bush and some random annuals that had just bloomed. I made sure he didn’t pick EVERY flower from a particular plant. We were also sure to get both smaller and larger flowers. But for the most part, let him do his thing.

Even if you don’t have flowers in your yard, the kids would love to pick grass, leaves, weeds, and dandelions. Or go to your nearest park and pick a few there!

A little boy sits outside, picking petals of pink flowers off a bush and putting them in a plastic bag for a pressed flower suncatcher craft.
A little boy sits outside on a bed of mulch and picks yellow petals from a plant. He's holding a small plastic bag with pink and purple flower petals, which will be used to make a pressed flower suncatcher craft.
A little boy in a navy blue, tan, and white sweatshirt stands in front of a bush with purple flowers. He is picking flower petals and putting them in a small plastic bag to make a DIY pressed flower suncatcher craft.

Step 3: Prepare Contact Paper

Once we had picked enough flowers, I ROUGHLY measured out a piece of contact paper. You want the contact paper circles to be slightly larger than the embroidery hoops.

Two small craft hoops, painted yellow and green, sit on a sheet of opaque white contact paper.

Love how that garbage truck is holding part of the paper down, haha!! I then traced the outside of each embroidery hoop with a Sharpie so Liam knew roughly where to place the flowers.

Step 4: Place the Flowers

I peeled back half of the paper I had cut so that Liam could place the flowers how he liked on the sticky side. The remaining part of the piece will be folded over the flowers once he was finished. You can have the kids place the flowers roughly throughout the sharpie circle. Even some overlapping is fine.

A little boy places colorful pink and purple flower petals into a round circle drawn onto transparent contact paper. These flowers will be used to make pressed flower suncatchers.
A little boy wearing a yellow hoodie concentrates on placing pink and purple flower petals onto a sheet of contact paper to make pressed flower suncatchers.

What even is this face?!? It reminds me of Chandler from Friends. Whenever him and Monica are getting pictures taken and he makes the most ridiculous fake smile face. I swear all kids have these crazy silly fake smiles.

A little boy wearing a yellow sweatshirt smiles at the camera. On the table in front of him is a sheet of contact paper with a variety of pink, purple, and green flower petals arranged in two hand-drawn circles.

Step 5: Seal the Flowers in Contact Paper

This was his end result!! Once he was finished, I folded the remaining contact paper over the flowers to seal them in place. 

Now I have NO IDEA how long the fresh flowers will stay in sealed contact paper. I would guess a few weeks. Which is honestly perfect. 

That way grandma/mom/teacher can take it down from the sunny window and not feel like they are throwing away kid art (but reuse those embroidery hoops!!)

The contact paper worked great for pressing down the flowers because it was sticky, but you could also leave them pressed under something heavy, like heavy books, if you want them to be flatter. You could also, of course, use a flower press if you have one! But it is not necessary.

Fresh pink, purple, and green flower petals sit inside two hand-drawn circles on a sheet of of opaque white contact paper.

I cut roughly around the OUTSIDE of the Sharpie line. I actually think I cut too close to the Sharpie and it kept slipping through when I tried to fit it together later. 

So be generous with your circling cutting. You can always trim more if you need to.

Pink and purple flower petals are sealed between sheets of contact paper, Yellow-handed scissors sit between the two circles of flowers.

Step 6: Assemble the Beautiful Pressed Flower Suncatchers

To insert into the embroidery hoop, place your cut flower contact paper on top of the larger hoop part. This should hang out over the edges and that is perfect (as you can see in the photo below). 

Then, place the smaller inner hoop on top of the cut flower contact paper and push it into place. You can use the top tightener screw thing (really technical, right? haha) to make it tighter if need be. 

I did tighten mine a little bit, but not much is needed.

And don’t worry, the sharpie line is not visible once it’s in place!

A single small embroidery hoop painted with splotches of green and yellow paint sits on a sheet of contact paper with pressed flower petals.

Once pushed in place, I didn’t have a ton of extra contact paper hanging out. There was just a small narrow border that I trimmed with scissors so that it remained flush with the hoops!

A look at the almost-completed pressed flower suncatcher. Two small wood embroidery hoops hold a contact paper filled with pressed pink and purple flower petals. The embroidery hoop is painted yellow and green.

Lastly, add some ribbon or yarn to the top as a hanger.

He was so proud of his pressed flower suncatcher gifts!!

A little boy wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt with a cartoon dinosaur smiles proudly at the camera, holding two pressed flower suncatchers dangling from pieces of green yarn.
A little boy wearing a gray shirt with a blue dinosaur on it holds up two small pressed flower suncatchers, hanging from two pieces of green yarn. The suncatchers have pink and purple pressed flowers between yellow and green-painted wood embroidery hoops.
A little boy's arm holds a long piece of green yarn. Hanging on the yarn is a pressed flower suncatcher, made with a yellow-painted embroidery hoop and pink and purple flower petals pressed in contact paper.
A pair of pressed flower suncatchers, made with pink and purple flower petals pressed in craft contact paper and held in place with small wooden embroidery hoops that have been painted green and yellow. Strings of green yarn hang from the top of each suncatcher.

There you have it! This DIY pressed flower suncatcher idea is a great nature craft that preschoolers can make as a gift for Mother’s Day! Just grab a suncatcher frame (like an embroidery hoop, as we used), contact paper, and head to your own garden to pick flowers.

Hope you and the kiddos have a great time enjoying the warmer days and spring weather! And I wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day!! You mamas deserve a break, or at least to go to the bathroom alone, with the door shut!

A stunning pressed flower suncatcher is held up in front of a bright window. The transparent suncatcher holds pressed yellow, purple, and pink flower petals in an embroidery hoop.

More Flower Crafts to Try:

Easy DIY suncatcher craft for kids. Perfect gift for grandmothers and mothers for Mother's Day! Also great spring and summer outdoor craft for kids.

DIY Pressed Flower Suncatcher

A pressed flower suncatcher made with embroider hoops, contact paper, and colorful flower petals.

These stunning pressed flower suncatchers are a quick-and-easy DIY craft that your kids can make with little effort! You only need a few supplies for this craft, and it's perfect for Mother's Day gifts, holiday gifts, and more.

Active Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $20

Materials

  • Embroidery Hoops
  • Contact paper (or other sticky paper)
  • Flowers
  • Yarn/string/twine to hang it with
  • Paint

Tools

  • Paintbrush
  • Scissors

Instructions

  1. Paint the Embroidery Hoop: Paint both parts of the embroidery hoop separately so they don't stick together. Let dry before continuing.
  2. Pick Your Favorite Flowers: You and your kids can pick your favorite flower petals to press. Pick flowers from your hard, on a neighborhood walk, or pick up faux flowers from the craft store. You can also include grass, leaves, dandelions, or even weeds.
  3. Prepare Contact Paper: Use the embroidery hoops to measure how much contact paper you need. Draw a rough circle (larger than you need) around the hoop. This will be your guide for where to place the flowers.
  4. Place the Flowers: Arrange the flowers however you'd like. Use the circle as a guide.
  5. Seal the Flowers in Contact Paper: Once the flowers are placed, fold the remaining contact paper over to seal them in place. Then, cut around the OUTSIDE of the guideline to create a circle.
  6. Assemble the Pressed Flower Suncatchers: Place the cut contact paper on top of the larger embroidery hoop (it should hang over the edge slightly). Then place the smaller inner hoop on top of the pressed flower contact paper and push the small hoop into place. Use the top tightener screw to secure the hoops together. Attach a piece of yarn for a hanger, and you're done!

Did you make this project?

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10 Comments

  1. That’s a very good ideas, and looks quite easy to make. My son will love it as he gets quite easily impressed with new things.

  2. I love these and not just for the kids I thinkI want one too! Stopping by to let you know you are being featured on Friday’s P3 Party post! Have a great week! Thanks for pinning!
    Best,
    Kim

  3. I will have to make one of these for myself. I absolutely love flowers. And, also will make great gifts for family members. Thank you for your post.
    Sincerely,
    Theresa

    1. If you wanted them to last longer, press the plants first in an old telephone book. Once they have dried, the color will have faded on some of the plants, but they won’t mold in the suncatcher. Just a thought. Kids can’t wait that long and last minute planning won’t allow it, but it might be something to try if you can.