DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Lollipop Flower Paper Craft

This is a simple paper craft that will hold a piece of candy -- you can make a whole bouquet in a vase for a Valentine's dinner or you can hand out single blooms to good friends.

You can use cardstock or a heavier paper to make the petals (just trace the template) but, in my opinion, construction paper works best for children. I find cardstock is too difficult for young kids to cut out and scrapbooking paper is expensive so if (when!) they mess up and waste, it's harder to be loving and patient with them, hehe. Having said that, Valentine's scrapbooking paper looks very nice if an adult or teenager is making these.

Materials:

paper (construction paper is my favourite for this project)
scissors
printer
lollipop (we used tootsie roll brand)

Directions - three dimensional craft:

Print out the template of choice or cut these out freehand (they're very easy -- if you can cut out construction paper hearts, you don't need a template).
Fold a piece of construction paper in half horizontally and then in half again vertically.

fold and cut flower

If needed, lay the heart template so the point of the heart touches the corner where the folds meet.
Cut out a heart shape so the point of the heart falls where the folds meet (unfolded, this spot is the center of the construction paper.
Snip a TINY bit from the corner of the heart (for the candy to slide through).
Unfold the heart to reveal an eight petal flower.
Repeat the above steps using different colours of construction paper and different sizes of hearts.
Slide flowers onto the lollipop (smallest flowers first) until you have the creation you like. I like 3 to 5 flowers on each lollipop.
If you snipped a tiny enough piece from the corner, the flower will stay together on it's own. If you snipped a bit too much, you can wrap a little scotch tape beneath the petals (on the "stem") to hold the petals on.

Templates:

Close template window when done printing to return to this screen.
Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Advice on template to choose. Full flower requires no folding... easy but not so fun. The heart is for young kids who don't yet know how to make construction paper hearts. This gives them a bit of guidance but still lets them fold coloured paper to make their project.

Candy Flower - full flower (color) or (B&W)

Candy Flower template - heart (color) or (B&W)