Gerber Daisy Wreath made with Alcohol Ink Colored Flowers


Last spring I saw an adorable simple gerber daisy wreath on pinterest. I knew it would be the perfect spring wreath, but I didn't want to have to buy bunches of different colored daisies, and most of the nice looking silk gerber daisies were not cheap.  So here I was, another spring had come, and I still wanted a cute spring wreath for my door, so I dug into my stash of leftovers and found some large white daisies, and I thought, I could color them--I've seen tutorials of using alcohol ink to dye silk flowers for cardmaking and scrapbooking, it shouldn't be too hard.  So, I had talked myself into it.


I had 5 white daisies, so I picked out 5 bright springy colors to dye them. I started with purple (because it's my favorite). I used a few drops of rubbing alcohol on my applicator before dropping 4 or 5 drops of alcohol ink on to the applicator to thin the ink down a bit and help it soak into the flower. Then I started stamping on a covered surface (I used a craft mat, but wax or parchment paper would work fine too). The ink soaks into the flower as you stamp, so just press down and rock the applicator a little bit and continue stamping. I had to reapply ink about 4 times to finish each flower. The last step was usually to run a line of alcohol ink right along the edge of my applicator so that I could get in tight along the center of the flower.


The flowers did lighten a bit as they dried, and if areas looked a bit too light after I was done, I went it and touched up just a bit.


So I colored my flowers, watermelon red, purple, orange, bright blue, and lime green (from the dockside picnic set and the summit view set) .  Probably not realistic, but certainly springy. I was pleased with the way they turned out.  I don't remember how much I paid for these flowers (I used them for another project years ago and they were just laying in a bin), but I'm sure it wasn't much, so I'm really happy that I was able to make these bright gerber daisies for next to nothing.


So after I had dyed the flowers, the next step was making a wreath.  I only had 5 flowers to work with, so I knew I needed to make a relatively small wreath.  I got out a cardboard box and traced a large plate.  When I cut it out, I went ahead and traced another plate that was smaller and left me a ring that was little over an inch wide.


After my cardboard ring was cut out, I used some black grosgrain ribbon that I picked up for a quarter on clearance to cover the cardboard ring.  I used a hot glue gun to secure the ribbon in place on the ends and added a dollop of glue every few inches to make sure the ribbon stayed put.


Then I laid out my flowers leaving a space for a bow.  I cut off as much of the stems as I could and glued them to the ring with some hot glue.  The flowers came with some trilobal leaves.  I decided to cut the leaves apart into a pair and a single leaf.  I alternated gluing the pair on one side and the single leaf on the other all the way around the ring.


When it was finished, I grabbed some black and white ribbon and made a double bow to fill the space that I had left open.  I managed to make my wreath just with stuff I had laying around at home, but as long as you had the alcohol ink (or stumbled upon a multi-colored and inexpensive bunch of gerber daisies) you could easily make the wreath for less than $5. Such a great inexpensive pop of color for the front door!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plastic Wrap Alcohol Ink on Small Ceramic Bowl

Image
A while back I picked up some small white bowls from Big Lots ( these look similar ) with a nice satin finish. I already inked one bowl using the flame method , but I still have a few bowls left, so I decided to give one the plastic wrap treatment. I got out my craft mat and some alcohol inks . Then I cleaned my bowl with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and removed the sale sticker from the bottom. I tore a piece of plastic wrap off the roll that was large enough to cover my bowl, and I set it down on my craft mat, being sure not to smooth it out. Then I dripped ink on the plastic wrap until I liked the combination of colors and the plastic was mostly full of color. Then I placed my bowl in the center of the plastic wrap and carefully applied the plastic wrap to the sides without smoothing it out too much (so it keeps the wrinkled pattern). Then I flipped it over to dry. I ended up using 7 colors on the bowl. I wanted something bright and fun so I we
Read more

Splatter Resist Alcohol Ink Tile

Image
I still have some ceramic tiles left from my last run to the hardware store, so when I remembered I had saved the contact paper heart from my Valentine's Day Glass Etching project, I knew exactly what I wanted to try. I grabbed some bright alcohol inks , canned air , a 6 inch ceramic tile , and my contact paper heart. I originally cut it out free hand by folding the contact paper, so it doesn't have to be perfect, but I'm sure if you have a cutting machine you could use that to make whatever shape you'd like in contact paper or vinyl. I peeled back the paper backing and applied the heart to the middle of the tile (as best as I could eyeball it). Then I rubbed down the edges of the contact paper. I squeezed out a drop of alcohol ink near the edge of the heart and used canned air to blow the drop out from the center of the tile. I usually hold the can with my right hand and a plastic lid with my left (I use the lid from the small plastic box I keep
Read more

Alcohol Ink Washer Necklaces

Image
I received a package of alcohol inks for Christmas and then bought a second set with a 50% off coupon at Michael's.  I've used them now to make coasters and to decorate some candle holders .  I was just getting my sea legs with these inks to begin with.  I applied the ink directly onto the surfaces and played around with rubbing alcohol as a blending solution.  But I thought it was high time that I used an applicator to use them the way they were intended.  Of course, the applicator is just a stamp with some velcro on it and it costs 6+ dollars....not to mention buying the pre-cut pieces of felt. So I figured I'd make my own.  I was very much in a use what you've got mentality, so I grabbed a scrap piece of wood and a couple of strips of velcro (hook and loop tape).  I used the hook side and lined two pieces up next to each other.  Luckily they were just the right width. I had the sew-on kind of velcro, so I spread some tacky glue thinly onto the surface
Read more