Perfect Posies to Shabby Stems ~

Oh, I am very happy with these dear little flowers, they turned out so sweet and pretty...I am certain I will make more again soon. 

There's been quite a change to these soft petals, from the BEFORE state to the finished results above.  My ten rather ordinary silk flowers from the crafts store were transformed into 20 deliciously shabby blossoms, each one so yummy that it was hard to pick a favorite, but I did, and it will go to the lovely Karen B at Elderberry Street.

So, would you like to see how easy it was to make these?

Okay... let's get the goodies assembled!  You'll remember that I tore apart the silk flowers I'd bought, creating a pile of lovely petals in various shapes, sizes and shades of white/ivory.  We'll add to that some florist's tape, glue, linen (you just knew linen would be in there somewhere, right?) ribbons, old tatting scraps, tulle, lace yard goods, vintage paper scraps, chenille upholstery fabric, old buttons, Adirondack stamping inks, glue, needle and thread, a candle and a chopstick (trust me on this part), and a bit of dark green organdy. 

I sorted and stacked the petals into three piles, small, medium and large, and then just started grabbing petals from each pile and stacking them into an arrangement that made a visually pleasing flower.  I pinned each group of petals together and set it aside.  Most of the preparation work went into shredding linen and making little piles of thread.  Don't ask me why or where this part of the idea came from, but I just liked the deconstructed look of it.  You'll see. 

These little floral stems were my "aha!" moment and when I realized I could use them for the foundation of each of my "new" flowers.  Complete with little stamens and a nice wire, they are the center of each blossom. 

So, I just threaded each petal onto the wire.  You can see how I used different types and shapes of petals, even a shred of lemony lace yard goods became a layer.  I melted the edges of these pieces with the candle... careful and don't burn the fabric or your fingers!  Also, while I didn't do it for this one, on some of the flowers, I used Adirondack inks and a Q-tip to tinge the edges of the petals a soft pink.

 

See?  Here the petals are all stacked together and threaded on to the little wired floral stem.  It's pretty enough just like this, right?  Of course, I wasn't done... I've got to make the back delicious too, and more stuff would make it perfect, so let's flip it over. 

 

A dollop of glue and little nest of linen threads were added, and a tiny bit of the same fabric to hold it all together.  I used glue sparingly on this project, only a drop now and again at the center when I needed to secure the petals in a certain arrangement, mostly so that the flower would look fuller and prevent the petals from nesting together too much and obscuring the different layers. 

A snippet of old tatted lace was threaded on to the wire too, and a strip of mossy organza that I'd melted a bit over the candle.  This adds a touch of green to the blossoms, again, very deconstructed.  For some of the flowers I created later, I used crumpled up strips of vintage paper along with the organza and tatting. 

A velvet leaf is layered on to the stem and the whole covered by dark green florist's tape.  For some of the blossoms I made later I used thin cuts of a mossy green chenille upholstery fabric in place of the florist's tape, glueing as I wrapped the wire at an angle from blossom to the end.  It made the stems a nice touchable velvety texture and the whole effect was a bit more vintage-y. 

Now you know what the chopstick is for, right? 

[sigh] This just makes me happy, and at this moment, the planets are in alignment and all is right with the world.  Do you feel that way when your project goes just... perfect?  The stress dissolves in a puddle at your feet and floats completely away, doesn't it?

Finally the lovely button.  This is a newer button, but with a vintage quality.  Mostly, I used mid-century plastic buttons with little rhinestones.  I learned to sew the buttons on FIRST, not at the end.  Too hard to hold on to it all at the end, you know?  MUCH easier to stitch it to the little wire flower before you add the petals. 

Ahhh... my little silken garden.  I made another dozen more, and will post them in my shop over the next few days.  

I do want to take a minute also, to thank you all for your sweet comments and wishes of "safe travels" last week.  I honestly and humbly treasure each message you leave, you are all so encouraging and kind.  I have found, despite my sometimes crazy travel schedule, that my art and my blog are very important to me, and the opportunity to create or celebrate a beautiful, artful life is very centering and restorative. 

It is good to find others that share this passion and the need to create beautiful things.  How special that we can discover each other, despite the miles that separate and would otherwise keep us from knowing about another kindred soul, out there, creating lovely things too! 

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, and I wish you joy and peace today, and each day after. 

Eileen

 

Comments

[Barbara Jean]

LOVE these!!
I see i could spend all day here!

Beautiful blog, treasures, and sweetness. look forward to visiting again soon.

blessings,
Barbara Jean

[Lydia]

Just beautiful! Great tutorial:)

[kristi]

Gorgeous flowers!!! What a great idea too!

[Nancy]

I would absolutely love to win one of your lovely creations. Your flowers came out soooo beautiful....Love looking at your website & all of your wonderful inspiration.
Thanks so much, Nancy

[cerri]

Your flowers turned out stunning! Really.
I love the process you used and all of the bits and pieces that went into them.
Thank you for sharing how you made them!
Cerri

[Linda Price]

I think I see the beautiful flower you sent me in your picture! Thank you so much. Your creations are wonderful!

[Deb]

Absolutely gorgeous!

[Karen B]

Eileen, I e-mailed you a couple of days ago, I think. Did you receive it? If not, I'll try again. My days are blurred together lately, so I'm not 100%.

Karen B.

[Jeanne]

These turned out so beautiful! I love making flowers...they make me happy...and I put them on everything:-)

[~ ~AHRISHA~ ~at JoyouslyLivingLife]

I love the look of these flowers and am thankful that you shared the process with us.~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

[julie]

I love making something from "nothing" and am going to try this...your flowers are beutiful!

[Kammy]

Very pretty ! I have never seen this before...thanks for sharing !
Hugs ~ kammy

[Michelle @ Sweet Something]

OOOHH...I was hoping you do a "show me" these are really special! What wonderful inspiration!

[Andrea]

I love this idea!!! This is a great project cuz I actually have most the stuff on hand...lucky me! I'm gonna try this one and post about it...and of course tell them who my teacher is...thanks so much for the inspiration!

[Marie]

Oh my - what an absolutely beautiful blog you have! I admire your fabulous creations.

Blessings,
Marie

[Linda]

Hi Eileen,
The new flowers you made are just sooooo beautiful!! What a creative idea! It must have been so much fun creating these litte masterpieces. I especially liked the idea of using chenille fabric for the leaves. Glad you maybe can be home for a while and able to do creative things. Blessings, Linda

[Vanessa]

I haven't done crafting with flowers in years, and this makes me want to get back into it. I'll have to checking out my crafting supplies and make a few of these. They are gorgeous!

[Jen Day~sugaredsongbird]

Sigh! :)

[Barb]

Hi Eileen, your flowers are wonderful....very special and just lovely!!

Barb

[Julie]

Wonderful flowers, Eileen! They turned out lovely! Great job! Will have to bookmark this post as a tutorial for my future reference! :-) Cheers, Julie

[Pat]

These are absolutely beautiful!!

[Karen B]

How so very wonderful, Eileen! I'm so excited. As you could tell on my blog that this was a welcome diversion this week. What a blessing to be chosen. I think all the flowers are so beautiful. Someday soon, maybe I can play with pretty things again.
Hugs,
Karen B.

[Charlene]

I love the way your flowers turned out! I had seen a tutorial on doing organza flowers & melting the edges over a candle. If the whole flower is organza it seems to not have enough"weight" to the flower. Seems lacking. But, yours looked great. Thanks for sharing. You come up with such amazing ideas.

[Alisa]

Oh! These turned out just gorgeous!!!

[Laura Ingalls Gunn]

Breathtakingly beautiful~I love it! Well done!

[lorraine lewis]

Oh my goodness these are so pretty. Great job!

[Lindsay @ Peacock Blue]

These are just georgeous!

[karen]

I love the finished flowers, they are wonderful! karen b...recycledrita...wish I was the karen b who won!!!

[Joyce]

Oh my, Eileen!! These are just so pretty, there really isn't a proper word for them!!! How very talented you are, I always love to come in and see what you have created... sigh...

[Paula]

Dear Eileen,

Congratulations to Karen!!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful tutorial. Your photos are beautiful! You are so creative and the flowers are gorgeous! I love them! They look very vintage. All the details are so sweet. I can hardly wait to make some! I, too, love it when a project goes just right, and can feel the stress dissolve and float away. It is such a nice feeling isn't it?

I agree, it is so wonderful to find other kindred souls that love to create, though we are all separated by many miles, we are close in heart to one another.

I wish you joy and peace today and each day after as well!

Love, Paula

[Lisa]

These are georgeous! Can't wait to see them in your shop.

[Tina]

Those flowers are SO beautiful - what a great idea and thank you so much for sharing. Have to keep an eye on that shop again ;)

[Rose]

Your flowers came out absolutely beautiful! Thank you for the great tutorial, I can't wait to try them and I look forward to many more of your beautiful ideas :) Rose

[kana conger]

Your deconstructed flowers look like a beautiful work of vintage art!! They are all so lovely. Thanks for walking us through how to do this. I will definately give it a try!