Hello there and welcome to the Helmar Blog. Today we are going to be making some Christmas Flowers for our Holiday decor, I've been putting up my decorations and realised I needed something on top of my cupboard as it was looking a little under dressed compared to the rest of the room, so I decided a few large flowers would be nice. Just a little note before we begin, this is not a 'quick' project and this post is also photo heavy :) :)
What you will need:
Helmar glues - 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, Craft and Hobby PVA Glue and Spray Adhesive. Medium weight fabric and paper of your choice, wire - at least 24 gauge, small wired pom poms, glitter of choice and scissors along with any decorations you wish to add to the centres.
The first thing to do is cut out your petals, I wanted large flowers (my finished flowers measure approx 28cm (11") when shaped) so I made my petals 10cm x 6.5cm (4" x 2.5") and 15cm x 9cm (6" x 3.5"). I drew them freehand on a piece of cardboard for a template but then found it was much easier to cut one of each size from my fabric and then just cut around this for all the others. You will need four small petals and five or six large petals for each flower. For my fabric I used pre-loved wedding dress satin (because that's what I had) but of course you can use any fabric to co-ordinate with your own decor, just be sure it's not too lightweight.
The next thing to do is find your wire and cut it approximately 10cm (3-4") longer than the petals. Once you have cut them all out, run a generous bead of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive down the centre of the fabric petal (like a vein) on the wrong side of the fabric. I left a little space on the tip of my petal without wire.
Place your wire on top of the glue and then run your finger carefully down the wire to give a good stick, continue to do this to all the petals and then allow to dry.
Now that the petals are dry we are going to cover the back of the petal (the wired side) with some paper. I am using and end roll of newspaper that I have which is white but of course you can use a complimentary colour or any colour of your choice, just be sure that the paper is not too heavy as you want to be able to bend the wired petals.
Using the Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA Glue, I removed the applicator and used a paint brush to apply the glue all over the back of the petal.
I then placed my petals on top of my paper (fabric side facing up) and allowed time for them to dry before cutting them all out. This is a great time to watch a few videos or a movie :) :)
Now that all the petals are dry and cut out we can start putting the flowers together. Decide what you are going to place in the centre of your flowers, I am using some wired pom poms, I covered them in Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA Glue and then rolled them in silver glitter and then let them dry.
The next step is to take one small petal and apply Helmar 450 Quickdry adhesive on the bottom part where the wire comes out on the fabric side, and then glue the pom poms (or whatever you are using in the centre) to this. Apply the glue to the next petal and affix it opposite the first petal and then glue the next two small petals opposite each other in the same way. The larger petals should be glued in to place one after the other rather than opposite (see picture of flower upside down). Make all the flowers in the same way and allow time for them to dry.
With your flower all glued and dry it is time to pretty them up a little. Taking the Helmar Spray Adhesive, lightly spray the petals of the flowers (following the directions on the can) and sprinkle on your glitter, I used Ranger, 'Clear Rock Candy' Distress Glitter which gave a lovely subtle sparkle. You can also run a bead of glitter around the edges or on the tips of the petals in a contrasting colour if you desire.
Because my flowers are quite large I wanted to add more to the centres, I had a silver leaf garland that I trimmed a few small sprigs off and using my Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, I glued them around the pom poms, three in each flower.
As I mentioned before, my flowers are very large and I felt that over time they may loose a bit of shape so I decided to reinforce the base with some hard plastic. First I cut a strip of the previously used paper and wrapped my wires up, being sure to bend the ends up so everything is smooth. I then cut a piece of plastic from a used bottle and arranged it around the base of my flower until I was happy with how it held the flower. I used some sticky tape to keep the plastic in place.
Now that my flowers are complete, I'm going to arrange them on my cupboard together with some paper flowers I have previously made out of book papers.
I have to say I am pretty pleased with the way my Christmas Flowers turned out, I kind of wish I had made more now!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will consider giving it a try, remember you can make these flowers in any size and shape you want and for any occasion.
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog and I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and and a very safe and happy New Year! :) :)
Jeanette xx
