Creating these poppies is a breeze! Start by painting two coffee filters. We used a red bingo marker, which worked really well for giving the filter a vibrant red color. Just a few dots of marker paint can cover a lot of ground, as the filter quickly absorbs and spreads the color. Keep in mind that if you use less paint, the drying time will be faster. Ours took about an hour to dry because we were quite generous with the paint.

Once the filters are completely dry, stack them together and fold them in half. Then, fold them in half again, creating four quarters. I drew a heart shape on the folded filters, and my little one skillfully cut it out.

Next, unfold one of the coffee filters halfway. I used a hole punch to make two holes near the fold. Even if the holes end up slightly off-center, that’s alright. A pipe cleaner is then threaded through one of the holes in the filter and through a blue button. The pipe cleaner continues down through the second button hole and the second hole in the coffee filter. Twist the pipe cleaner ends together to form a flower stem.

Gently scrunch the sides of the flower together into a tight bud. When you release it, the bloom unfolds into a lovely shape with pretty folds and a bell-like base. These poppies hold a special meaning for us, as we’ll be sending them to my sister and brother-in-law, both war veterans. You can make these poppies to give to someone you know who has served in the military, and now that you’ve learned how, it’s easy to create these coffee filter poppies.