Newspaper Flowers Tutorial

These would be great for a variety of things...

Mother's Day, Teachers Appreciation, Decor....

What you will need...

• Newspaper
• Circle Template ( about the size of a small cereal bowl )
• Spray Paint ( I used 3 colors in this tutorial )
• Card Board Box
• Pipe Cleaners in various colors
• Net Fabric ( I used white and cut them to a little larger than the newspaper circles )
• Sharpie
• Scissors

How to make them...

Start by taking your circle template and stack of newspapers. ( not too thick, you want to be able to easily cut the paper ) Trace around your template right over the newspaper. Make as many as you like. It depends on the project and how many flowers you want to make. This bouquet took about 4 of each color.

Cut out your circles ~ have your kids help too. These would be fun to give as gifts. Just make sure if they are young to use safe kid scissors. (gotta be safe)

Now you are going to want to take one circle at a time and pinch from underneath in the middle of your circle. Form a cute flower. I find that looking away while doing this makes a nice flower. If you stare at it while making it, you will try to make it too perfect. The OCD might come out! Hee!

This is what it will look like on the bottom of the flower. Just pinch tightly together. Some of them you will need to just fold a bit to keep it pinched. No need to secure with tape because we are going to use the pipe cleaners later.

Make a whole bunch of these and set them aside in your cardboard box lid. Lids work best because they are low and you have better access when painting. Plus your little flowers can fly all over the place when you move them.

Now go outside or to a well ventilated room and take these and your spray paint with you. I like to use 3 or more colors, they just look nicer in the arrangement. Separate your flowers into 3 piles, and spray each  lightly with the colors you chose. I used Pink, Blue and Green. Let Dry. It won't take long. By the time you get them back to the craft table, you should be good since you are only lightly spraying them.

Next, get out your pipe cleaners and net fabric, place the netting behind the flower. I like the texture it adds to the flowers. On some of the flowers I added 2 net circles and offset them to add just a little extra.

Then take your pipe cleaner ( I used a similar color to the flower ) bend over the end a bit and pinch and twist around the base of the flower. Make some of your stems longer than others so you can give your flowers different height in the vase. Do this with as many flowers as you like depending on the project. In this case I made 12 for my small pink vase.

Once you have all your flowers made, just start placing them in your vase. 

Aren't they Cute!

I have another very cute project that I am doing with these little flowers for my girls room. So stay tuned. This is a big project that is going to take time. But I am getting there. I can't wait to share it with you.

Hope you enjoyed this fun, cute flower tutorial.

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♥ Guest Blogger ♥

Your going to Love this weeks "Guest Blogger"
Michelle at

Dilly Dally and Flitter

They say necessity is the mother of all invention. 

or at least creation. 

maybe modification. 

I am continually on the prowl for something new to re-create and re-purpose. and it's super bonus if it is from items I already have that might otherwise go to waste!

Sometimes I can make up something new, and other times I modify and tweak already discovered ideas to be what I want and need them to be to make my life easier and more efficient.

After having my three miniatures, I could no longer keep track of my head, much less my keys- so research, the need for 6 extra hands and the Dangle Bangle was born {Dangle Bangle: a stylish way to keep my forever disappearing keys right on my wrist}!   But of course the head keeps spinning for new stuff to make and do….and to keep track of all of it, the blog was born in January 10.   

I am so inspired by the creative bloggers, and small business owners out there, and so happy they share their talent and skills.  So much of the desire to create comes from the inspiration from others that create.  That's what makes this blogging underworld so unique and such a treasure!  There are new ideas and new friends every day.

I am a generally happy girl and try to find the perfection in the imperfection… and in the noise these boys make!   You never know what's just around the corner! It's true… you  never know what's just around the corner!  To me, those are words to live by!

Enjoy!

Water Bottle Storage... Really? Awesome!

Bottles are everywhere... I hate them.  I walk into the pantry and look at so many items that are in plastic bottles.   Now it's time for them to move on UP{cycled} to hold something else... and it's really so easy!

Cut off the bottom of any narrow mouth bottle.

(I save the bottoms too... they make the best little mod podge or paint trays).

Next dig up some corks around the house... or if you don't have any... get busy drinking!  I used my hand held straight edge razer to notch a star shape into the end.

Next dig up some corks around the house... or if you don't have any... get busy drinking!  I used my hand held straight edge razer to notch a star shape into the end.

I then pushed my peg hook into the cork (much easier with the star cuts! trust me!)

Here is your hook with it's cork addition.

I decided to dress up the ends  and attached a 1.5" grosgrain ribbon... (fabric would be great too!)

Insert the hook into the bottle mouth. 

OR you can attach the hook to the pegboard and then push the water bottle onto the hook with cork. 

This one is a 8 oz. Coke bottle (perfect for smaller items).

Here I used (left is the 8oz coke).  middle is a coffee creamer bottle (note it's a milky bottle not clear) and right is a water bottle (no ribbon attached).

I love the plain one... I cut the bottle along the natural wave of the grooves on the plastic.

Sit back and enjoy your new storage and be happy that there are a few less bottles cluttering the landfills...

Thank you Michelle for stopping by Trendy Treehouse. We love your project!

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♥ Guest Blogger ♥

Another exciting Tutorial from this weeks "Guest Blogger"

Pot Holes and Panty Hose

You just have to stop by Rebekah's site and check it out. She has a very fun way of crafting that I know you will just love, love, love, like I do!

 On any given day at Pot Holes and Panty Hose, you might find me blogging about remodeling one of our rental properties, shooting a photo session for a client, on the road with my rock 'n roller of a husband, or creating some arts and crap for my home.  I am pretty normal by my own estimation.  But no one else agrees with me on that.  Come visit me and judge for yourself.  But please be nice, I am a delicate flower.

~Love Rebekah @ potholesandpantyhose.com

Scrappy Plywood Art

I am not a professional painter, by any means. However, what I do have is plenty of time on my hands, leftover remodeling bits and a little creative inspiration. A small budget and the need to have some crap on my walls is my creative inspiration.

Today, we are going to make a piece of art from cheap plywood. And, it’s gonna be awesome.

What you will need:

Oops paint (this is paint that has been mis-tinted and is usually $5 a gallon at most hardware stores), or leftover paint you no longer have feelings for.

A paintbrush, sanding block or sand paper, a tape measure, a skill saw with a wood blade, polyurethane (I use the fast drying kind) and a scrappy piece of plywood.

I spare EVERY expense when it comes to art that I might burn later on if I hate the outcome. Get the cheap ‘chipboard’. It has a blue edge. A 4x8 sheet of this stuff costs around $10, or go by a salvage store and buy some scrap.

You will need an electric drill and 2” drywall screws (that is, if you want to hang your art directly onto the wall like I do.) Otherwise, you can mount picture hanging devices on the back and hang it the old fashioned way.

Custom measure how big you want your artwork to be. Draw a line with a level and cut that sucker.

I wanted a large piece over our bed, so I went with a 4’x3’ piece of scrap plywood.

Sand the edges and any burrs that are sticking up on the face of your plywood lightly.

Next, draw a silhouette-type design on it. I decided to go for a deer head with antlers.

I know, don’t freak out. If you think you can’t draw, google ‘silhouette’ and find a design you like. Print it off and outline your design like you are in kindergarten. 

Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be perfect. 

Check out my line work below and it will make you feel better.

Use your oops paint to fill in the silhouette. Again, it does not have to be perfect. This is a rough piece of plywood and the paint will not go on in a straight line all of the time. That’s what makes this cool...and easy.

Paint the edges of the plywood and wrap it around to the front of your painting about a half of an inch. This will make a nice border to showcase your awesome talent. 

After your paint has dried, break out the polyurethane. I usually buy one of those disposable foamy brushes, but I didn’t have any on hand. If are applying polyurethane with a paintbrush, make sure that it is an ‘oil’ paintbrush. You will also need mineral spirits to clean it out. Yuck.

Thus the reason why I usually buy a foamy brush.

Let the poly dry. You can apply a second coat of poly if your wood is really thirsty or you want it doubly shiny.

Now is the glorious moment. 

I hung this piece by drilling straight through with 2” drywall screws on the black sections of the silhouette. I then touched up the screw heads with more black paint.

You can also use picture hanging devices that attach to the back side of the plywood and hang it as most normal people do.

But you know I have never enjoyed being normal...

~ Rebekah ~

Thanks Rebekah for a fun project!! We know we will be seeing many more great projects from you! READERS, don't forget to drop by and give a terrific comment to Rebekah and check out her many other great posts!!!

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