Red poppies are such delicate and lovely flowers and are also a meaningful emblem of remembrance, especially on Anzac Day or Remembrance Day. They are also prominently featured in a classic scene in The Wizard of Oz, so when we threw our Wizard of Oz party recently, we just had to include plenty of red poppies. We came up with a kid-friendly, quick and easy technique to make a bunch of paper poppies in no time.

Video showing how to make paper poppies

Here's a video showing the entire process of making paper poppies.

If you can't see the video, try viewing it directly on YouTube.

If you prefer step-by-step instructions, keep reading to see exactly how I made these cute paper poppies.

How to make paper poppies

The supplies you need to make paper poppies are pretty simple, and you might even have them all in your craft stash already. You'll need red construction paper, a black marker, needle-nose pliers, floral stem wire, yellow craft paint, and a hot glue gun.

For each poppy, you'll need two circles cut out of red construction paper. They don't need to be perfectly round — in fact, the poppies will look more realistic if they aren't exact circles.

Use a black Sharpier to draw a dot in the middle of one of the red circles, and little lines coming out of it, kind of like the rays coming from a cartoon sun.

Fold this red circle in half...

...then fold it again, in quarters.

Open it up and then overlap both sides of one of the creases about a quarter inch, and press down to make a new diagonal crease coming from the center of the flower out to the edge.

These little folds are sort of like darts on clothing, and will give the petals dimension. Do this for all four creases.

Do the same for the other red circle. Again, don't worry about being perfect, because imperfections will make the petals look more realistic.

Use a pair of needle-nose pliers to make a tiny hook in the end of a floral stem wire.

Poke the wire, straight end first, through the center of the circle that has the black dot on it, and slide it down so the hook is in the middle of the circle.

Use a dab of hot glue in the center of the flower to attach it to the hook. Don't worry about being too neat here, because the glob of glue will end up looking just like the flower's stamen later.

Poke the straight end of the wire through the other red circle (the one with no dot) and slide it up the wire, stopping a couple inches from the first circle.

Add a dab of hot glue to the back of the first circle.

Slide the second circle the rest of the way up the wire until it meets the first, and squeeze them together to set the glue. Make sure your petal creases don't line up perfectly with each other, so that you have a nice fluffy-looking flower.

To finish it off, add a dab of yellow craft paint to the wire/glue stamen in the middle and you're all set.

These easy paper poppies are a great craft to do with kids and make perfect tokens for Memorial Day, Anzac Day, or Remembrance Day. And they even look adorable gathered in a vase on your shelf.