Hello Bloggy Friends!!
I have a really fun and easy project in store for you today. But first, let me tell you a little bit about who I am.
My name is Laura and I'm the crazy crafty lady behind
A few words about myself: I am just your typical wife, mom and crafter.
In addition to those, I am also a cosmetologist {i do hair!}, love photography and digital scrapbooking! I am also on the store creative team for Gingerscraps, which is my all time favorite digital scrapbook place! If you are interested you can view my gallery here.
I started blogging after my daughter was born almost 5 years ago. It was mainly for family and friends to keep up with us since my husband is in the Army. I've been bloggin' off and on since then but decided that it's time I put it to good use and share all the things I love... with YOU of course! I have a lot of new ideas and crafts to be posted so be on the lookout. And if you want to follow my blog, please do so!!
So lets get started! Today I will be showing you the easiest flowers you will EVER care for. They don't need any water, light or pruning. That's because they are made out of paper!
You can display them anywhere in your home and not even think twice after you {plant} them!
The supplies you will need are:
- hand drawn flowers {6 total for layering}
- 2 sheets pinwheel flowers {this is free at gingerscraps right now!}
- little tin pail to arrange flowers in
- foam block
- wooden dowels
- mod podge
- distress ink
- glue gun/ glue stick
- shredded paper or green moss
- ribbon
- buttons
- paint brush
*As I mentioned earlier in this post I do a lot of digital scrapbooking. For this project, I will be using the pinwheel flower and hand drawn flower templates by Creations by Julie. The kits I used to design the flowers are Spring's Renewal by Kathy Winters Designs and Spring is my thing by Connie Prince. I created my digital elements in photoshop but you can use virtually any photo editing program! Just print on cardstock and you're ready to go! Or if you prefer, just find some great paper you have on hand and trace it out. It doesn't have to be perfect!*
First take your foam block and cut it down to size so that it will fit into the pail.
Now it's time to cut out your pretty flowers! You will also need to mod podge them. You can do this before or after you cut them out. I wasn't thinking since I had a 4 year old running a muck and I forgot. SO I did mine after I cut them out :)
It really doesn't matter when you do it. As long as you mod podge to protect them, you'll be fine!
This is what they look like after being cut and mod podged. Purty huh?
Set them aside to dry and get your pinwheel flowers ready.
Take your two sheets of pinwheel flowers and mod podge those. See, I remembered this time to do it BEFORE I cute them out! Victory!
Now, set those aside so they can dry.
Grab those flowers again because it's time to assemble them! I distressed mine a bit by folding the edges down and roughing it up a bit.
This is totally optional as well but I like to ink the edges for a more rustic look!
Now take your flowers and leaves and assemble them any way you want. After all, this is YOUR project and you can do whatever you want!
They're looking good but they still need something.......
aaaah, that's better. I added buttons and ribbon in the middle.
Your flowers are assembled and ready to go! Set them aside and go ahead and grab your pinwheel flowers. It's time to get those suckers put together!
Cut out the strips. You will have 2 sheets of 3 designs. Making a total of 6 strips.
Ink the edges
And now it's time for your hand to get a serious workout! Accordion fold all 6 strips. My hand started cramping up on #2. NO joke!
Take your matching 2 strips and glue them together.
They should look like this when finished folding and gluing them all!
Pinch one side together and pull the underside out so it will lay flat.
Use your glue gun and put a generous drop of glue in the center. Hold until it is dry.
They look good but they also need something......
MUCH better! This is totally optional. You can use whatever you want or nothing at all!
This part is also optional. I wanted to wrap the dowels in ribbon to give them a real flower feel. If you choose to do this step it's easy. Just glue one end of ribbon to the end of the dowel and wrap around.
Also, you can keep the dowels all one length but I chose to cut mine to different lengths so they would be staggered a bit.
Once you have wrapped your dowels grab your flowers and start gluing!
Go ahead and start arranging the flowers in the pail. Stick them into the foam block and move them around until just right :)
Now that you have the placement down pat, it's time for the {dirt}. I used fun shredded packing paper! I also thought about using faux moss. But this is way more fun looking!
Wall-AH! You're finished!
How cute are these?!
I decided to put them on my hutch next to my watering can and house card. They go perfectly together!
So, are you still with me? Did I lose anyone along the way? I'm sorry for the picture overload but I like to be very precise so that no one gets lost!
I really hope you enjoyed this tutorial and it sparked some creative ideas! The options are endless with this project. It would be great for any holiday or even for a sweet little gift to someone.
Feel free to stop by live.laugh.photograph sometime to see what new things I'm creating!
Thanks for tuning in today and a BIG thank you to Kelly for allowing me to guest here today!
XOXO
Laura thank you For being my guest! You are way cute, creative and I LOVE you flowers!
xoxoxo
Kelly