Hi..
My latest weekend project, recycled floral arrangement. Wait, is that what its called? Well, i couldnt think of anything else.. so.. Lets have some fun, shall we?
I personally like this project because, its recycling, its cost effective ( i could actually say frugal), its fast, its fun and it looks absolutely elegant once finished.
We have these lovely hydrangeas growing in front of our home.. Just beautiful bunches of pink-purple-blue-green-white flowers.. Yeah.. It does turn so many colors from summer to winter. But every beautiful thing sometimes have to come to an end, and thats the early spring time.. No flowers, no leaves, dried stems, some even dead ones.. So.. Thats where our project comes in place.. Carefully trim the dried and dead stems, bring it home and make it look pretty, yet again.
Since we are into June,tiny little leaves started to sprout, this is how it looks like-
Fortunately i had saved some dried stems, so just picked some and got started.
Spread it, and start peeling of its dry skin to have a smoother finish because we dont want those skin to peel off AFTER we finish painting.
Now for the paint part of it, you can choose any color that u like, paint it with pretty pastel colors and make different flowers on it, i just chose black. Any acrylic paint would do, might need 2 or 3 coats depending on the color you choose. Keep it aside for the paint to dry.
In the mean while, lets make some flowers!
You can go with any choice of paper and the color, i went with, guess what-- Kitchen tissues! I love them.. They have this lovely texture on them, doesnt cost you much, and easily available (at home i mean)
So lay it around, cut it into half, keep one half aside and work with the other half.. Fold, fold, fold and fold AND fold. Yep. Five times, everytime into half.
Factoid: Did u know that any kind of paper, when folded into halves, i can be done only 7 times max? Fun, right? :)
Ok, so now we just need to pick the corner and cut an arc.. Like a quarter of a circle. And tada.. We have so many circles or circle looking like pieces in our hand. It need not have to make it perfect circles because we are going to crimp it anyway. Do not seperate it yet. And save the rest of the bits and odd pieces for something that i will explain in a bit.
Take a paint brush, preferably an old ones with bristles all over the place, dip it slightly only the tip of it in paint, and dab the ends of the circles we just cut.. It need not have to catch the paint all over, do not hesitate to seperate the stack just a little bit and paint.. Lets get some texture out of the brush.. Dots here and there.. Yes. Lovely!
Leave it for drying for a bit, and lets go check on the stems. Nice and dry and black.
Now back to the flowers, seperate the dried circles, and just give it a pinch at the centre. See? We just made a beautiful flower!
And thats it, hot glue-stem-flower and tada.. You have your own one of a kind, hand made, floral accent to your home.
Remember i asked you to save the bits and odd pieces previously? Lets make some buds out of it. Nope. Im not going to waste even a bit of the tissue paper.
So all you have to do is, take a bit, roll it into your hand like a dough, and paint the same color on it all over. Mine looks like a yellow popcorn.. Lol.. But doesnt matter, it looks natural and pretty anyway..
Glue those bits also onto the stem, and stack them together and aaah...(violins playing the background)
I just had a mini barrel at home, so i stuck some foam inside, poke these stems the way you want it, trim it at the bottoms if you need to, and cover the foam with some fake moss, and place it in a pretty corner, and get ready for all the compliments.
Oh-em-gee.. I love mine! So classy..so elegant! You love it too no?
See ya ;)
