Monday, February 08, 2010

Pretty Petals

To view this painting by Igor Levashov, press here



To cheer up dark winter days, I suggested finding a primrose, often sold for less than a dollar, and bringing it indoors as an inexpensive bouquet. If these are not available, here is a lovely alternative: carnations.  However, these are hand made with tissue paper and chenille stems. The total cost for a huge amount of them, is about two dollars at dollar stores. All you need is a stack of tissue wrapping paper and some wire stems like these.  If you add a vase and some felt tip pens from Dollar Tree, you pay about four dollars for supplies that will make a LOT of carnations.  It amounts to about a penny per flower.  Try them in different colours.

 These are just a stack of white tissue, traced around with a small bowl and then cut with the deckle edge shaped scissors. The edges are painted with a felt tip pen in colour of choice. To find directions for tissue paper flowers, type it on your search engine. There are many step by step instructions for these, and dozens of appealing  books available about tissue paper flowers.    I made these very thick, so that they look like cabbage roses. The chenille stems look like they are in water. This is a bright spot for winter and a very easy craft for children. Try them with some of the glittered tissue paper you can get or with brighter hues.


To those of us who are snowed in, it is a great encouragement to know that the countries in the southern hemisphere, particularly Australia, are having sunny days, sipping lemonade and iced tea on their verandas.  I've collected some of my favourite blogs that have imaginative creativity on them. They wont suit everyone but you might find something that makes your heart sing.



http://pinkandprettydesigns.blogspot.com/

http://rosebrookcottage.blogspot.com/

http://humecottage.blogspot.com/

http://roseteacottage.blogspot.com/
 
http://pinkandprettydesigns.blogspot.com/
 
 
This delightful one is in Dixie, I think  http://rosecottage-laurie.blogspot.com/ - A lovely blog!
 
Press on the photograph for a close up view!  I plan to do more and add a tutorial of my own, sometime today.  These really do not look as good in the photograph as they do in reality. Around the house they look absolutely real, and it gives me a chance to use old jars and vases. Dollar store has some beautiful vases that look like crystal. Check out the candle department for candle holder jars. I also made my stems stronger by folding the chenille in half and winding it back up the stem, doubling it.

Here are some variations of this pattern:
The red rose in the center top was made by cutting smaller circles for the inside middle. Instructions for the daisy can be found on the web, but basically it is just the same, with petals cut around.

15 comments:

Lydia said...

It would be interesting to stack different colours together and see what you get in the finished flowers. It is possible that I might post variations of these, later.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lady Lydia,

Thank you for your comforting and encouraging blog. I refer to it often. I hope you are having a wonderful day.

Anonymous said...

I thought those were peonies at first- I am impressed!
I am a real flowers or nothing sort of girl, but those really had me] fooled! I couldn't believe it when I read they were tissue paper!

If you go to the Martha Stewart website, you can find instructions for crepe paper flowers, and also bead flowers.
I have made some of the crepe paper ones and they are fun and pretty easy, and a friend made a beaded bouquet for her Daughter-in-laws wedding bouquet that was stunning.

Anonymous said...

These flowers are really nice. You did a great job and when I have more time, I am going to read your instructions and make some. What a cute craft!

I like that your suggestions are very affordable. Even in the links you provide to pictures on other sites, I can find things that do not cost a lot to do, but look very nice. These are exactly the kind of suggestions I am looking for!

Anonymous said...

Those flowers are gorgeous! At first glance I thought they were real! I was wondering where you got peonies in February! Thanks for sharing this craft!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lydia said...

I made crepe paper roses that were realistic, for years, and then could not find the wide reams of crepe paper. the streamer size does not work.

Lydia said...

My own method was a little different, so I will try to get time to add the tutorial of my own, inside the post today.

Secondhand Blessings said...

I can remember back in school making flowers out of kleenex for floats that were to be in parades.
The kleenex flowers were also used for weddings. The bridal party cars were decorated with the flowers. They were very pretty but not durable. A disaster if it rained!
Thanks for passing along the Folding Tree website. They have alot of great ideas.
Brenda

Anonymous said...

We're melting in Australia!! :-0 :-) (though we've had significant rain for the last week; its either raining (excellent) or 38-42 degrees C and stupidly humid; we're cowering inside under the airconditioning, corner or ceiling fan; trying to keep cool. Oh, that our top temps would be 25-30 degrees C and not humid in summer :-) In Australia, especially in the sub-tropical and more temperate climates (we don't have frigid cold as the Northern hemisphere has, even in
TAS).

Autumn is the true king of seasons down here!! though it can still be very hot, it is dry once again, the light is golden and beautiful as the sun's arc shifts northwards, nights grow cooler and the autumnal fruits come into season - new-seasons' apples, quinces, the last of the figs and grapes, the first of the mandarins... it is truly marvellous.

From March to June you might like to run a series of Autumnal posts scatterd between your springtime posts for your Southern Hemisphere readers.

I am through with our cauldronh summers and can't wait for autumn to softly come; at Sydney's latitude, unless one lives in the southern Highlands or Blue Mountains, the seasons are not defined sharply as they are in the Australian Capital Territory, the townships along the Great Dividing Range, Rural Victoria and especially Tasmania. (beautiful quality of light and seasonal variation).

Even in summer, we drink our tea hot; there's an old saying that the hotter the weather, the hotter the tea... (lemon barley water is a traditional refreshment down here - reputedly Queen Victoria's favourite). Ginger beer is also a traditional Australian preparation (it is not alcoholic, and even if the fermentation produces alcohol, it is in such low amounts it is considered a non-alcoholic beverage all the same). The hotter the ginger beer (spice hot) the better!! Search http://www.recipezaar.com/ should have an authentic Australian ginger beer recipe. This is particularly popular in Queensland.

Anonymous said...

A nice surprise....they do look quite real. A soothing craft for wintertime, especially in the midst of being almost buried in snow as we are here in Pennsylvania!

Anonymous said...

These are very, very beautiful. I would like to add more beauty to my life even though I am very busy homemaker.

Do you plan to do a series on how to get it all done?

Anonymous said...

At first I really DID think these were real flowers.....wow! What a fun idea!

Brenda

Anonymous said...

The ideas were wonderful! I will look them up and make some for our home. They look so real. Thankyou!

Brittany said...

Thanks so much for this post!!!! I love to be creative and finding little things like this are so much fun!
My mother-in-love and I are hosting a Valentines Day tea this Saturday and these flowers will look very nice on the table!
Thanks again!
BTW- I love your blog. As does My dear Mother and my mother-in-love and I!
~Brittany