Flowers… Or Not

I’m a girl who loves getting flowers. They don’t have to be big or showy (a fact my first husband never seemed to grasp–he believed that excess is best, how else could he impress those around me if he did send ginormous, obviously expensive arrangements studded with stargazer lilies that perfume the room in less than an hour and give you a headache after that?), but I do love a pretty rose or 3 to sit on my desk or the dining room table.

After the aforementioned first ex, I managed to date a string of men who, more often than not, didn’t believe in giving flowers. One claimed it was rude to cut a flower for private enjoyment instead of letting everyone see it in nature. One thought that giving flowers was a sign of uber-seriousÂ commitmentÂ along the lines of moving in together. Â o_O

The first flowers Mr. RT ever sent me | personal photo

Mr. Road Trip prefers to send flowers on occasion but it’s not his default gift–I’ve got no reason to complain–but usually, if I want flowers, I go buy ’em myself. And I’m okay with that.

It may surprise you, then, to learn that I am jumping onto the no-flowers bandwagon as far as the wedding is concerned. Actually, I made this decision before I knew there was a bandwagon to be on.

See, it’s one thing about buying a $9.99 bouquet at the grocery store to dress up the dinner table and another thing entirely to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on decorations that are so fragile they have to be done at the very last minute, may not be available at all due to the whims of Mother Nature, and will barely last a day past the event. In my mind it is, to put it bluntly, a waste.

But to go straight to silk flowers (which, often, can be just as expensive as fresh blooms) just doesn’t fill me with joy, either.

Ribbon and Paper roses I've made | personal photo

Ribbon and Paper roses I’ve made–not the ones I’ll be using in my bouquet | personal photo

Instead, I’ll be focusing on paper blooms and non-floral alternatives. I’ve been experimenting with different papers and other materials to decide exactly what I want to construct our simple non-florals with. We’ve got boxes of wine bottles just waiting to be turned into something pretty, accumulated over the last few years by my tendency to save any potential craft supplies. And, thankfully, I’ve already got a pretty broad skill-set to work from between paper, beads, knitting/crochet, and wire-work. I’m really looking forward to the end-result, which will be mixed-media decorations throughout the ceremony and reception.

Would you consider going flowerless if it meant saving your budget?

Attached to a ribbon, ready for gifting or storing

Flowers in Your Hair

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I’ve always been at a bit of a loss as to what to do with my hair. I usually keep it shoulder-length (having a short neck makes that shorter than the usual shoulder length) and if I don’t pull it back it it “curls” (okay, frizzes) unless I put a fair amount of taming product in it. So what possessed me to grow it out is beyond me, but I’m getting used to it.

What I’ve learned is that my hair really benefits from doing something with it, everyday, and the more I experiment the more I see that I need a little something extra to make things just right.

One of my current favorite hairstyles, especially for those days when I can’t get anything else to work, is a big fluffy bun (achieved by much teasing after it goes into the pony-tail) but I can never get it perfectly straight. You know what? It works off-center even better, as long as I add a little something to it to make it look deliberate.

Let me draw you a picture (literally):

Diagram of my go-to hair-do

Thankfully I have some bows and combs left over from the 90s that are simple enough not to look dated (I got rid of the sequins and lace ages ago) but I wanted more–not just for this hairstyle but others, too.

Decorated bobbies and hairpins are very popular these days (just look at etsy to see all the styles available, plus headbands and fascinators, oh my!) and I’d purchased some from a local store to add to my stash. Something I noticed, though: the ones I purchased are so sturdy and so tight that if I put it not quite right the first time, I’m liable to ruin my handiwork trying to remove the hairpin!

I like my pins functional as well as decorative so, of course, I’m making some myself.

Floral Bobbies

You don’t need very much to make a set of floral hairpins for yourself. From a single spray of craft-store flowers I’ve only used 2 small sprigs: one in full and one in pieces to get 4 separate blossoms.

5 Bobby Pins
Wire
Scissors* or Wire snips
4 faux Pearls or Beads
Hot glue gun and glue (optional)

*You want a fairly fine-gauge wire so you can work with it without it kinking up too much. A wire that size can be easily cut with scissors but can also damage the blade so it’s best to use wire cutters or keep a pair of scissors that you only use for wire, just in case.

A lot of the bobbies and clips I see (though not all, of course) use just hot glue to attach the decoration and, frankly, I don’t trust hot glue alone to hold up to the level of handling I put my hair and accouterments through. So I prefer to sew or wire the ornaments onto the hardware and use the glue to help secure them further. Takes a little more work, but I think it’s worth it.

For the spray bobby:

	Start by securing the wire (about 12 inches) to the curved end of the bobby pin at the wire’s center. For items that will be attached to the length of the pin it’s recommended that you flip it over and attach it to the longer, flat side rather than the shorter bumpy side that I’m used to having on top.
	Lay the sprig of flowers along the length of the pin and secure it at the top by wrapping the left-hand wire over the spring and through the loop of the pin and pulling back to the left, and repeating with the right, criss-crossing over the spray and holding it tight to the pin. Continue down the length of the pin, being careful not to trap the stems that branch off from the main stem (unless, of course, that’s the look you’re going for).
	At the end of the pin’s length and just before getting to the rubber tip, wrap the remaining wire tightly around the stem and pin three times and trim the wire close to the end.

For the accent bobbies:

	Cut 4 equal lengths of wire (6-8 inches, each) and secure each to the remaining 4 bobby pins as above, leaving the beginning wraps in the curve and twisting the wires together a few turns. Trim the ends of the wire to the same length.
	Thread a set of petals (in my case there were two layers of petals plus a plastic stamen) onto both wires. The bead or pearl helps secure the petals and you can either thread it onto both wires going in the same direction or feed one wire in through the left end of the bead and one in through the right, the idea being to keep the holes on the beed to the side and more hidden, if you don’t want the wires to show as much. I notice very little difference in reality between the two, so do whatever works for you.
	Feed the wires back through the hole in the stamen and petals, going back down the bobby pin. To secure the wire back to the pin, keeping the flower in place, you also have 2 options. The first is to wrap each wire separately in the over-and-through method used above which allows the flower to be arranged facing up or along the side of the hairpin. The second is to weave both wires in, out and around the top of the bobby pin simultaneously. This method has the benefit of securing the flowers to the very top of the pin, facing up and out rather than parallel. I liked the differences so opted to do 2 of each. Trim the wires when you feel the flower is sufficiently anchored.

At this point I did add a drop of hot glue to secure the flowers and wires where I set them, a little extra insurance.

See how pretty they turned out?

(And major props to Todd who was willing to wear the wig I’d arranged with the flowers so I could get the picture I wanted.)

Of course, decorated bobby pins are only one option. Keep in mind, when making your own hair ornaments, that the larger the ornament, the larger the base, clip or comb that need to hold it otherwise your accessories could very well drag your hair down instead of lifting it up!

Arm Yourself in Sparkles

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Of all the jewelry I own, bracelets are the least practical for daily wear. For the most part they’re best left for dressing up when all you have to do is pose prettily.

Think about it:

Bangles clatter and jangle against each other
Charm bracelets snag on delicate skirts and fluffy sweaters
and practically all of them become uncomfortable when you spend 9 hours a day typing on a computer keyboard!

Which is why I’ve lately become enamored of cuffs. Cuff bracelets tend to be low-profile, especially on the underside of the wrists, which is good for typing and they stay put perfectly. The trick, it seems, is to find ones that fit correctly but that’s easy enough to do if you make it yourself.

You know there was going to be a project, right?

Beaded Daisy Cuff

What you’ll need:

Cuff form
Ribbon
Straight pins
Needle and thread (regular and beading)
Beads
Fray check (or other seam sealer)

	Draw out a long length of ribbon (a yard or a bit more) and loop it through the center of the frame. Weave one end in and out around the frame a few wraps and then secure it with a pin before continuing.
	At each end wrap the ribbon around the curved bit before weaving in the final stripe. Pin it secure and then stitch along the curve to keep the ends in place. Dot the knots with seal sealer as well as the cut end of the ribbon to keep things from fraying. Repeat on the other end.
	Now, this is a pretty enough cuff on it’s own but I wanted to make something a little more decorative so I added 4 beaded daisies scattered along the length. Each daisy starts with an e-bead center, 5 petals of 2 seed and 2 bugle beads each and 3 pollen clusters made of 5 very tiny beads.
	Still not enough and not entirely happy about the shifting of the ribbons along the frame, I added a line of beads along the perimeter of the cuff, just inside the frame. Stitching every 4th bead with a backstitch helps the entire thing hold together. (Make sure to leave spaces for the daisy petals that overlap the outer edges, otherwise the petals with scrunch together.) Finally I added a cluster of 3 beads between each flower to finish the cuff. Trim all waste threads as close as possible and dot allÂ knots with seam sealer to prevent losing any beads as you wear it.

Having the frame made this a quick project. Another option is to use bracelet-sized memory wire (it comes in oval, too, which is great for cuffs–I’ll be experimenting with that later) and make your own frame, either spacing the ends apart by a beaded bar or joining them in points at the end with interlocked loops. Using ribbon for the body of the cuff means this bracelet isn’t going to be scratchy against sensitive skin.

Paper Petals, Part 2

64 Arts

Tuesday we looked at two ways to make roses from a single length of ribbon or paper. Today we’re going to go strictly paper and add a few more steps. But look at the results!

Paper Roses

A reminder of the supply list from the last post:

Paper
Scissors or craft punches
Bobby Pin
Glue

I found this kit on clearance at Marshall’s a couple of weeks ago to make a gorgeous crepe paper bouquet (it’s also from Martha Stewart, by the way). I opened the kit, preparing to be amazed at some complex project at hand. Do you know the big secret?

Hearts.

Yup. The petals are all hearts, which if you think about it, makes perfect sense. Petals are sort of teardrop shapes, two together make a heart. So, while, sure, having a kit is great, you can totally do this without even paying $5 for this kit (much less the $10 they originally wanted for it). And, since we’re dealing with basic shapes, here, I don’t think I’m really giving away any trade secrets, you know?

Start with the Hearts	Start with a bunch of heart shapes. If you’ve got a craft punch this would be a great use for it, otherwise trace and cut with scissors or just freehand some. I’ll bet they’ll look even more realistic if hand-cut as opposed to identical pieces. Still, if you don’t trust yourself to cut without a net, go for the uniform, it’s okay.
For each of the hearts you want to curl the curved edges a bit. You can use a skewer or whatever but I found that a bobby pin (used similar to a quilling tool) makes this step SO simple: slide the bobby pin over the tip of the heart/petal, roll away from you, slide it out–it’s like a curling iron for paper. Do this to all of your hearts and then start assembling them.	Â Â Curling the Petals
A Bud from a Single Heart	The first heart creates the bud and will wrap around itself a couple of times to make a tight center. If you want to have stems for these flowers, wrap this first petal around a pipe cleaner or piece of wire. Dab a little glue on the last flap to fold over and press to secure.
Add more hearts by overlapping the edge of the previous one and continuing to wrap in the same direction until you run out of hearts or your rose is the size you want. A small rosebud will look very nice with only 3 hearts. The fuller flowers used 15 hearts each.	Paper Rose--15 petals

Experiment with different types of paper–I’ve used some shiny tissue paper, banana paper as well as some gorgeous handmade paper from the local art store to make the roses in the opening picture. The handmade paper is my favorite–it looks so much heavier and full, even in that bright turquoise.

Wired, they’d make a lovely arrangement or package tie or could be added to a headband or hair clip. Make enough of them and cover a wreath form (attach with hot glue) for a centerpiece or door hanging (just keep it out of the weather).

Want one more way to while away an afternoon making very cute things out of paper and not much else? Check out this Origami Paper Roses Tutorial from Housewife Eclectic. They could also pass for tulips, too!

How many roses will you make, today?

Paper Petals, Part 1

64 Arts

Picture this. You’re in the mood to make something floral but there’s a few impediments to your creative zen:

You possess neither a green thumb nor a neighbor’s garden from which to pilfer.
Your craft room comes up shy in the silk flower department.
It’s way too late to go to the craft store (or you don’t want to spend a lot of money or just don’t want to get dressed to go out–I know, I’ve been there).

What do you do?

Do you have

Papers or ribbons?
Scissors or craft punches?
Glue or tape?
A bobby pin (optional, but helpful)?

Why, then, you can make your own flowers! And who knows, you might find making them more fun than your original idea.

Ribbon Roses 1

All you need for these first two techniques is some 1-inch ribbon (fabric or paper) and scissors. Needle and thread wouldn’t hurt but it’s not absolutely required just yet.

Several years ago, probably more like over a decade, I learned how to make ribbon roses thanks to an episode of Martha Stewart’s show. (I was in my Martha phase, then. But after seeing her do a kitchen segment with dirt under her nails my enthusiasm began to seriously wane. That many people around, a camera close-upping on your hands, and you don’t think it’s important to clean up a bit? tsk tsk)

I had brought work home with me, including my adding machine, and had scads of used adding machine tape, so practiced with that. Turns out, adding machine tape makes spectacular practice ribbon! Those roses lasted ages, sitting on the front counter at the office, and I’ve never forgotten the technique.

It’s a series of 4 simple folds, each a 90-degree angle and leaving a little space between the corners creates a hole in the center of the square. For paper you can crease the folds and make life easier on yourself, the same with wired ribbon. Non-wired (aka floppy) ribbon just has to be handled a bit more carefully. The pins in the below pictures are just to leave my hands free to work the camera, once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to whip through these flowers with just your fingers in no time flat.

Ribbon Roses, Steps 1-4

When you reach the end of your ribbon (or you think you’ve folded enough–better to err on the side of extra folds and unravel some at the back of an over-full flower than not have enough), thread the end of the ribbon through the small hole in the center (this is the one part that’s easier with ribbon than paper), and twist the ribbon as you pull to create the center bud. Continue to twist more than you pull, rotating the petals around the center bud, creating that offset look that makes it look more flower-like, less square. Tie off the tails at the base of the flower and then arrange the petals the way you want them.

Ribbon Roses, Steps 5-8

You can also play with the angle of the folds for different finished flower effects.

4, 5 and 6-fold Ribbon Roses

As you can see, I’ve tacked them to this yoga block (not like it was being used for anything else) with a pearl-headed corsage pin. For more permanent use and any sort of application where they’re going to get a fair amount of moving around (clothing or accessories), take a needle and matching thread to secure the layers of petals, hiding the stitches among the folds.

The 4-fold rose likes to return to it’s squarish roots while the 5-point (fold into a pentagram, 5 72-degree angles for the precision-minded) looks the most rose-like to me. The 6-fold rose (hexagram or 6 60-degree angles) is pretty, yes, but even I had to start over a couple of times and finally placed it on the yoga block so I could fold with one hand and hold down with the other–rotating with each turn was not working. It is pretty, though.

But that’s not the only way to fold a flower.

Ribbon Roses 2

Going back to our garland knot-guru, Nimibirla, here’s another way of forming delicate ribbon roses for any number of uses.

You can certainly make these flowers with only one ribbon, but the two together are not only beautiful, they make the technique easier to see. If you’re only using one ribbon you may not need to stitch as many times as she shows.

Come back Thursday for the third way to make your house bloom with little to no cost and no green thumb needed.

Are you reaching for your ribbon, yet?

Scraps of Life

Better living through creativity!

flowers

Flowers… Or Not

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Flowers in Your Hair

Floral Bobbies

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Arm Yourself in Sparkles

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Paper Petals, Part 2

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Paper Petals, Part 1

Ribbon Roses 1

Ribbon Roses 2

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