These sunflower shapes can be cut by hand with scissors or a utility knife, or can be cut on a vinyl cutting machine. I'm using a Cricut Maker machine with a strong grip mat and a variety of cutting blades including the knife blade and the rotary cutting blade. 

The flower shapes are made from EVA craft foam sheets in various shades of yellow, and the leaves are made from acrylic felt in green. This stuff is really inexpensive and easy to find at any craft store.

Download the files below. The .png files are best for printing and using as a hand-cut template, and the .svg files are best for uploading to your vinyl cutter's Design software.

You'll find two slightly different sunflower files and a file for the face graphic. Upload all three .svg files to the design software for your vinyl cutter and save them as "cut" images.

I wanted a variety of sizes for my flowers. After inserting the images, duplicate them as many times as you'd like and resize them so they're the size you want. My smallest flowers are around 2" across and my largest are around 4".

Remember you'll be hiding the NeoPixel ring you made in the center, so don't make them so small that it will stick out.

Duplicate the face image as well so there are enough for all the flowers you're making.

Once you're happy, click "Make It". Choose the correct material and cutting blade. I had success by choosing "craft foam" along with the knife blade, and "acrylic felt" along with the rotary cutting blade on my Cricut Maker.

This screen is also where you can arrange your flowers so they will fit on your material. Nudge them in from the edges a bit since our material won't go all the way to the edge of the mat.

Trim 1" off your craft foam so it's 11 inches wide. Secure it to your strong grip mat with tape on all 4 sides to keep it from moving around while you're cutting.

Cut your flowers. Each flower will have three layers: sunflower1, sunflower2, and another layer (either sunflower1 or 2) cut from green felt for the leaves.

Cut the face stickers from black matte vinyl. It may also be fun to personalize your flowers with hand-drawn faces.

Use hot glue to stick your LED ring right in the center of the smaller (front) sunflower piece.

Poke a hole in the center of your back sunflower piece and your green leaf piece. Thread the wires from the ring through this hole. Glue these two pieces to the back of the NeoPixel ring once the wires are threaded through. Be sure to offset the petals so they peek between the petals of the front flower.

Add some character to your flowers by curling up the leaves a bit and decorate each one with a smiling face.

Glue a green pipe cleaner to the back of each flower to serve as a stem. Discreetly wind the wires around the stem to make them begin to fade into invisibility.

This guide was first published on Apr 28, 2021. It was last updated on Mar 27, 2024.

This page (Make the Sunflowers) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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