These poppies are an impactful way of creating beautiful, reusable decorations by repurposing old plastic bottles.

You will need: old plastic bottles (any size), a knife and scissors, red and black acrylic paint, cloth or newspaper to cover your working area, overalls/old clothes for children.

Carefully cut the bottom off a plastic drinks bottle (there is often a moulding mark running around the bottle, part way up and it is helpful to follow this line),

2. Shape the plastic into petals. How many petals is up to you - some of my bottles had 5 indentations on the bottom so I used these as a guide. You may prefer to cut just two, similar to the charity lapel poppies.

3. Paint your flower, ideally using acrylic paint to achieve a good depth of colour and coverage. You will probably need 3 coats of paint. These can be done about 3 hours apart or on different days. Don’t try to speed up the process by warming with a hair dryer as the plastic will melt… I learnt this the hard way!

NB: I strongly recommend putting down a table covering and that your child wears an art overall or old clothes as, once dry, acrylic paint does not come off wood or fabric. You will also need to clean your brushes as soon as the activity is finished so that these don’t go hard.

GROOMBRIDGE RESIDENTS -

Groombridge Scouts are leading the way and hoping to create a fabulous display of poppies in the village.

If you would like to include your poppy in the village display, punch two holes in the centre so that it can be tied to the netting suspended for this purpose on the oak tree at the corner of Broad Oak and Corseley Road. Holes can be made most easily using a drill with a 3mm wood bit.

You will find a bag of ties on the net, so you can add your own poppies whenever you are ready to do so. It is easiest to put a tie through the net, then through your two holes, and twist to secure the poppy at the front.

We look forward to seeing how the display grows over the week…