Before I start, when you read "Poppies," did you first think you read "Poopies?" I kept triple checking that I did NOT in fact write "Poopies" when writing the word 'Poppies,' but man did I make myself laugh in the process of it all. Clearly, I'm easily entertained.
I live amongst a lot of testosterone in this house. Three males to be exact. And more often than not, this little lady, moi, tends to feel like my surroundings are less than feminine. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my house full of these three men - LOVE - but every now and again, I'd like for it to show that some femininity lives here as well. How is one to do that you say? Enter flowers! Beautiful, bright, fragrant blooms throughout the house - in every room, showcased in the most perfect and feminine of vases! Yeah. No. Not in this house. And can we be honest here? Beautiful, fragrant blooms comes with a hefty price tag (if you ask cheap little 'ol me) and as much as I want that kind of pretty in my home, it's just not conducive to our pocket book. So, while perusing Pinterest, I came upon a post about DIY Flowers and thought, "Yep, I'm all over this!" This, my dear friends, was the answer to all my prayers. I could have beautiful blooms, all year round, and not only would it make me HAPPY while adding a feminine touch, but our bank account happy as well. A win-win! YES!
So here comes the true test. Let's see if I can actually explain the process well enough so you can try it at home! Fingers crossed...you with me, people?!?
Alright, the materials needed for this project are as follows: Scissors, tissue paper, floral tape, hot glue gun, 1/2" cotton balls (or you can use foam),floral wire, and bleach.
Step 1: With glue gun in hand, carefully glue the balls to the tops of the floral wire.
Step 2: After glue dries, cut out about 3-5 green tissue circles. Wrap the green tissue paper circle around the cotton ball to make a 1" ball. These will be your flower buds.
Step 3: Cover your wire with floral tape, as seen in photo above. It is a tad bit sticky - just an FYI
Step 4: Cut out yellow tissue paper squares about 2x2", and cover your WHITE balls tightly. Be careful when wrapping tightly as the tissue is so delicate and may rip. Then you rip out your hair just like I did...yeah.
Step 5: Cut out 3x1.5" rectangles. Fold the rectangle in half, lengthwise, and then cut the open edge to make fringe. You guys still with me here??
Step 6: Glue the fringe around the base of the YELLOW balls. See how it's starting to come along? YAY!
Step 7: It's time for petals! Cut your tissue into 4" strips. Then roll or fold (as many times over as you can) the tissue and dip the edge into a small cup of bleach. The bleach will saturate the top half of the tissue and it will turn white. It's SO pretty. PRETTY, I say! Then carefully unroll/unfold the strips and lay flat to dry. It took maybe 7-10 minutes to completely dry.
Step 8: Fold your tissue into 6 folds and cut out circles. These are your delicate and feminine floral petals! Once petals are cut, you'll want to pinch the bottom so they form a bit of a cone shape.
Step 9: Glue 3 petals around each stem. Then take an additional 3 petals and layer with glue around the first three petals. Once it dries, carefully "crush" your petals It should look a little bit like this below:
Step 10: Carefully pull back the petals and form as you like. Last step is to take your floral wire and cover the bottom of the flower all the way down the stem. To give your blooms a more natural feel, gently bend the wires in different directions so they don't seem so stiff.
And voila! There you have it! Bright, beautiful blooms to surround your home and put a skip in your step lol! Had I a little more time, I would have made double the amount of blooms. I wanted a really full looking bouquet but kinda liked that you could see each individual flower.
I hope you've been inspired to add a little feminine flair into your homes as well! If so, please post a photo! Would love to see what you came up with!
Creatively Yours,
NorCal Contessa
