These scale miniature poinsettias are made from paper, paint and wire and are a great winter ornament for dolls houses, Christmas villages, or used as ornaments for regular Christmas trees. I have made them in scales as small as 1:48, but please start with at least 1:12 scale for practise!. There are no short cuts to making these tiny plants. Each of the petals needs to be cut by hand, although there are some ways to make less realistic poinsettias using standard paper punches.
The results are well worth the effort. These are ideal little gifts or ornaments for those with limited space. The plant I first made is trotted out every year and placed on a mantle, so that a friend who dislikes poinsettias can claim, "I have mine already!" when friends ask if she'd like one as gift. Others are proudly displayed on bedside tables in care homes, some are the star decorations on Christmas trees.
You do not need to make these into full potted plants. You can make individual flowers for tiny wreaths, packages, garlands or dolls house trees. You can also make individual stems to put in scale miniature arrangements, mixed with white chrysanthemums, or lilies, or added to a backdrop of greenery and miniature pine cones.
Poinsettias, Euphorbia pulcherrima are unusual plants in that their flowers are the tiny rounded buds in the center of a group of colored bracts or leaves which resemble petals. They are not poisonous, but some people react to the milky latex that oozes from any cuts on the plant. There are a wide range of colors and variegations available. If you want realistic poinsettias you should view photos or check a real plant to get the leaf shape and color pattern the way you want. Each poinsettia variety will have slightly different shaped leaves and bracts.
To learn more about caring for real poinsettias, visit the poinsettia information on About.com's Gardening site. To learn about the plant's history, or choose ones that will last longer, take a look at the Poinsettia Fact Pages from the University of Illinois.
