Stained glass & sun catchers

How to Make a Flower Suncatcher

March 2, 2022

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Make a beautiful flower suncatcher for the window! All you need is a paper plate, contact paper, and flowers for a fun flower mandala.

Updated April 2022

If you’ve spent any time on the Artful Parent, you know we love suncatchers! It doesn’t matter the kind; we love them all. But we especially love flower suncatchers.

We’ve made lots of flower and nature suncatchers, including a flower petal stained-glass door, Easter egg shaped flower suncatchers, and a magical 3D nature suncatcher.

But one of the easiest flower suncatchers to make is this one that uses paper plates, contact paper, and fresh flower petals. So simple and yet so lovely!

Here’s a video showing Flower Petal Suncatchers in action! And don’t forget to scroll down for step-by-step instructions.

How to Make a Flower Suncatcher

MATERIALS

Paper plates (the thin kind)
Scissors
Transparent contact paper
Flowers and leaves
Markers
Hole punch
Yarn

INSTRUCTIONS

Create your flower suncatcher frame
Begin by making a frame for your flower suncatcher by cutting a hole in the center of a paper plate.
Add a center of contact paper
Next, use the paper plate frame to draw a circle on the contact paper. The circle on the contact paper should be about a half an inch larger than the hole in the frame, so that it will fit the opening and stick to the plate.
Press flower petals and leaves to the contact paper
Arrange flower petals, petal pieces, and leaves in any design you like.

If you want to make a mandala (these suncatchers make perfect mandalas!) make outwardly concentric designs with petals on the contact paper.
Finish the suncatcher
Add another circle of contact paper over the top to protect and hold the flower design in place.
Hang your suncatcher!
Punch a hole at the top of the frame and tie a loop of string for hanging. Then find a sunny window and hang your suncatcher!

nature suncatcher — Photo by Jean Van’t Hul

More About Mandalas

We love how well these circular frames hold the mandalas so perfectly in the center! And we also love some of the meaning that has historically been connected with mandalas.

Here’s a description (found on The Mandala Project’s website) that I especially like:

The word “mandala” is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit. Loosely translated to mean “circle,” a mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness and can be seen as a model for the organizational structure of life itself–a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds.

There are so many examples of mandalas found in nature: daisies, oranges, onions, the iris of the eye, starfish, and snowflakes just to name a few.