Date : February 14, 2020
The Bottlebrush Flower or Callistemon is one of Australia’s most easily recognised native flowers. In fact, May Gibbs was inspired by this bloom and featured it in her bush baby illustrations.
You may even have a Bottlebrush growing in your backyard or your local park. Your school may have bottlebrush growing in the gardens. Their red blooms are hard to miss in spring and summer in Australia.
Have you noticed how textured Australian native flowers are? The deep reds, orange and purple petals make them a much sought after bloom for floral arrangements.
This fuzzy texture reminded me of a craft material I love to use: pipe cleaners!
If you don’t have a Bottlebrush in your backyard, why not make some? Read on for a simple way to make pipe cleaner bottlebrush flowers.
Materials
Pipe Cleaners (we used red and green)
Scissors
Vase
Instructions
1. You’ll start with one green pipe cleaner. This will be your stem. Then take a red pipe cleaner and cut into varying lengths. Ensure they aren’t smaller than 2cm in length.
2. Lay the red pipe cleaner pieces on your green pipe cleaner. You can make the lengths even or shorter. Arrange the red pieces as though they are petals on the green stem.
3. Twist each red pipe cleaner around the green pipe cleaner stem.
4. Once all the petals are twisted on, you have a single bottle brush flower.
5. Make other coloured bottle brush flowers and place them in a vase for display.
For more crafty ideas, visit May Gibbs’ Fun and Games page.
Contributed By Crafty Bec
Crafty Bec is here to help stimulate little imaginations and spark a creative flame in little people. Inspired by May Gibbs’ own passion for creative writing and art, Bec helps educators and mums to embrace nature inspired creativity.
https://www.theplumbette.com.au/
