With flowers beginning to bloom all around... here is a sweet simple craft you can do to preserve them and enjoy them for years to come!
To create you will need:
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup corn starch
3/4 cup of warm water
rolling pin
round cookie cutter or cup for cutting your clay circles
pressed flowers
mod podge (we used outdoor so we could hang it outdoors)
paint brush
fishing line
embroidery hoop
To begin
Follow this tutorial to make the white clay.
Cut out your clay with a cup or a round cookie cutter and poke a hole where your string can slip through to hang.
Bake at 100 degrees C for an hour.
Once it is cooled you are ready for the fun part!
Gather up your pressed flowers, leaves, ferns...
Apply a layer of mod podge to the clay and then place your pressed flower on top.
Gently apply another layer of mod podge.
They will remain a little milky looking, but leave them to dry overnight and you will be happy to see it dries beautifully.
Once they dry completely, you can flip them over and repeat the process on the other side.
Lovely little flower gems!
To make the mobile:
Take two pieces of string (or we used raffia), fold them in half together and knot a loop.
Measure equally across the embroidery hoop and mark at the four compass points (NESW).
Tie the string on at the four points.
Ready to add your flower gems!
Tie on your clay flowers with the fishing line at varying lengths.
Hang and enjoy!
Loved how pretty they were spinning in the sunlight.
If you happen to have a wind chime around... tie it on!
Somehow it just seems to give the mobile that extra magic.
This can make a great gift for any flower lover in your life. I was inspired to create this for my Mum for Mother's Day. It now it twirls its flower faces for her daily and hopefully when the chime tinkles in her backyard, she is continually reminded of her how much I love her.
Have fun playing with flowers!
Oh my gosh, I absolutely love this! Our wildflower season is long over, but our summer flowers are just on the verge of beginning. I'll have to remember this one when they arrive.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! The outdoor modpodge makes the clay waterproof? Does it help the flowers from decaying also? I've never pressed flowers either, I'll have to figure that out first before taking on this project!
ReplyDeleteYou can buy them, try EBay maybe the ate square pieces of wood which screw down on each corner
DeleteI have done it in books on tissue or tissue paper, just use old ones in case they leak or have moisture u can use pieces of wood place in tissue paper and them put bricks on top of the wood. Google easy ways to press flowers for ideas and tips
There's a book by Klutz about flower pressing.
DeleteThe outdoor mod podge makes it highly water resistant. To be sure it is fully sealed it would be good to use another spay on sealant after the mod podge is completely dry. As long as the flowers are dried long enough there should be no decay. We just pressed our flowers in a heavy book for about a month. Hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by:)
DeleteAbsolutely wonderful !! I have lots of dried flowers and I'll certainly try it with my girls :-9
ReplyDeleteThis is really wonderful! I love the way the project turned out.
ReplyDeleteLove this! Absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing this with us!
ReplyDeleteJanet
Wonderful dear
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteLoving this! Linking to it on WeeFolkArt.com's Facebook page. Just waiting for a few more flowers to start popping in Michigan :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing it Kimara. Really appreciate it!
DeleteAwesomeness! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I love pressed flowers and love this way to show them off!
ReplyDeleteI am going to Google it, but is flower pressing the same are dry leafing? I can't wait to try this out. :) Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteTo press our flowers we simply took our (dry) flower heads and pressed them in a heavy book for 2 - 4 weeks. Hope that helps. Thanks for stopping by :)
DeleteThis is so beautiful. I love the colours. Can't wait to try it with my girls. Not sure where to get Mod Podge in the UK....there must be something similar...Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I looked around and I found some at amazon.uk! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mod-Podge-Matte-16oz-Decoupage/dp/B001IKES5O
DeleteHope that helps :) Thanks for stopping by
How thick do you make the clay circles?
ReplyDeleteAbout 1/4 inch thick.
DeleteThis looks like so much fun to make together with the family and a fun way to treasure your flower garden. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI understand that old phone books are good for pressing flowers. Just put heavy objects on them, like rocks or old encyclopedias.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this! It's so beautiful. I've pinned and shared!
ReplyDeleteHow do you keep the flowers' colors so vibrant? When I press them, they tend to fade.
ReplyDeletethat's a really pretty idea. i love the flowers.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing your tutorial! i set a link and hope you agree.
best wishes, doro von Hand zu Hand
That looks so pretty! I love the pressed flowers. Great idea
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea !!! I can't wait to get started to make one for myself !!! Thanks for sharing Robina28
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, this is beyond beautiful. We just purchased a flower press for next spring/summer, so I am adding this to my list of things to make with my daughter! Thank you for sharing!
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The flower and leaf print wind chime is pretty cool. What a great idea to make a wind chime. This is so pretty. One can even gift this flower printed handmade wind chime. Thanks for sharing this, i'll surely try it.
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