Faux Flowers

Growing up, my family has always been very garden-oriented--both flowers and vegetables. We'll get to the vegetable garden another day.. When I was young, my sister and I would pose for photos in front of our ever-growing flower garden looking like little flower children or we'd venture out and help our parents cut bright flowers to display around the house. So I'm used to seeing unique flower arrangements outside and in nearly every room in our house.

For the past few years, I've spent the school year living in Philadelphia going to school. While I do enjoy the change of scenery (not exactly prettier, but variety is the spice of life or so I hear!), there is a definite lack of greenery and non-trashed lots to get flowers, not to mention the struggle to grow my own plants. Though I did try this past spring.. luckily I moved out just in time to have my dad save the little plant. ( I do have a green thumb, I swear.) Anyways.. I needed a way to keep some type of colorful flowers in my room. You will learn I am completely obsessed with color.

After looking around my bedroom at my parents' house, my eye landed on a huge fake flower that I got as a birthday present decoration back in middle school. BINGO. Now all I needed was a vase. There was no way my parents' were going to let me indefinitely borrow one of theirs, so time to get creative. Luckily that day I happened to be thirsty for some green tea and voila! I noticed that Arizona Green tea bottles are pretty darn cool looking. Problem Solved. Over the past couple of years, I have accumulated more colorful fake flowers (that I don't have to be responsible and water!) and some Arizona tea bottle vases. (No picture of them unfortunately) to help decorate the top of my desk and add a splash of color to the room.

Now fast-forward to this summer. Another thing about me, I get bored easily with my room and like funky little pieces to add a little something extra. This summer I am nannying and had the idea to paper mache with the girls I watch. (There is a point to this I promise) Totally easy and you can make almost anything.

Paper mache glue: 1 part flour, 2 parts water.
I like to start with that proportion and keep adding a little of each until I get a glue consistency.

Next, I had gathered cardboard boxes, which we cut up and constructed into various things.. Mine? I made a vase! (See I told you there was a point!) Now after assembling the base of the vase and using tape to hold it together (I recommend masking tape but scotch tape works too), we ripped up paper and began dipping it into the glue. Don't let your project get too gluey or wet or it will take forever to dry!

After a day or a few hours in the sun, your project should be dry and you can begin to paint.
Here's my first vase. It's a little messy and uneven but it was my first vase attempt and it's imperfections make it unique!

Since I found an activity that the girls and I both enjoyed doing, I decided to give it another go the next week. We each made a new vase and I was thinking aloud to myself, "I guess I'm gonna have to run to AC Moore to get some fake flowers.." one girl I watched says "Let's make our own!" and then coffee filter flowers came to mind.

I made these little suckers probably back in elementary school and they are the easiest to make. Just get white coffee filters and washable markers. You can draw any pattern whatsoever. Next take a cup of water and dip your fingers in it and drip little droplets of water around the coffee filter, soaking it. If you saturate it too quickly, you don't get the same effect. After they dried, we bought a bag of green pipe cleaners (about $1.50 for 30 of them) and attached them to the filters.

The finished project...?

Perfect! Just the pop of color I was looking for. Fake flowers, paper mache vases, and coffee filter flowers are definitely a great way to spice up a room, add a little something different to a bedroom night table or just something to keep kids busy.