Make a Poppy Cross as an Act of Worship

Poppy Cross

Make simple poppy flowers and place them in a cross as an act of remembrance and devotion.

You will need:

Red tissue paper (click)
Black pipe-cleaners (click)
Fresh or silk flowers for remembrance and peace (optional)
EITHER narrow chicken wire (click) to cover a cross
OR chicken wire (click) to make a cross, plus pliers, or plastic mesh and cable-ties
Shallow bowl and plaster of Paris (polyfilla) for base

To Make the Poppies

Cut 5cm (2”) circles from red tissue paper. You will need about 4 for each poppy, and one pipe-cleaner (chenille stick).

Start by coiling the end of a black pipe-cleaner to make the centre of the poppy. The black can represent the darkness in the world, which Jesus came to dispel. We can think about what is dark in our broken world.

The Bible talks of sin as being ‘like scarlet’. The red petals can help us think about suffering that is caused by humans. We can think about our sins and say sorry. We can say sorry for the sins of others too, and ask God to restore us, and help us to bring restoration to others.

Use the pipe-cleaner to pierce the centre of your tissue paper circles, and thread it through. Then pinch the petals in below the pipe-cleaner centre. Wind the pipe cleaner around to hold the petals in place. You should have a short stem remaining.

As we bring the darkness and suffering in our world to Christ, it is transformed into a symbol of hope, peace and reconciliation. Place the poppy in the mesh cross. See how the hard, grey metal is covered and made beautiful by flowers. If you like, add fresh or silk flowers between the poppies.

We can thank God for all those who have and who continue to risk their lives to protect others. We give thanks for members and veterans of the armed forces, for police and fire officers, for lifeboat and mountain-rescue workers, for those serving in war zones and at home. We pray for God’s kingdom to come, an earth as in heaven.

To Make the Cross

You can simply cover an existing cross with chicken wire to hold the poppies and other flowers of remembrance, or you can make a free-standing one, as detailed below.

You can make the cross from small mesh galvanised or plastic-coated chicken wire and join pieces by bending the cut ends. You will need pliers with wire cutters and be sure that all sharp ends are folded in. If you use plastic mesh, you can cut it with large scissors and join pieces with cable ties, trimming the ends short.

For a cross 60cm (24”) tall you will need two pieces the sizes shown. You can scale the dimensions to make a larger cross.

For the upright of your cross, use a piece of wire mesh 60cm tall and 45cm wide. Bend it round into a tall tube and join the 60cm sides to each other. The join goes to the back. Your tube should be 60cm tall and a little under 15cm in diameter

For the arms you need a 45cm square with two oval cut-outs. These will go around the upright and should be a scant 15cm wide and 18cm tall. Remember, you can always make the holes bigger later if you need to. There should be a little under 10cm of wire between the holes. This goes to the front of your cross.

Bend the two arms into tubes, joining the top to the bottom. Your arms should be 45cm wide overall and a little less than 15cm in diameter. Place the arms approx. 20cm from the top of your upright and allow the cut-outs to curve around the upright. You may like to adjust the cut-outs at this stage, depending on fit. Secure in place by bending wire ends or with cable ties.

To give the cross a secure base, place it in a shallow bowl and fill the bowl with plaster. You can paint the surface when the plaster has set, if you like.