Sunday 12 June 2016

Paper Poppy Garland - 30 Days Wild - Sticky Sunday

   My mum has always loved poppies. There are countless representations in the house, from simple paintings to the kitchen window blinds. We named our second dog after them, and there's even a lovely cross-stitch my mum made some fifteen years ago. I can remember her making it quite clearly. Some grow in our garden, though they're a mixture of yellows and oranges rather than red.
   It's hard to escape them, to be honest, but they can be beautiful flowers. I rather love the shade of red they usually grow in, their simple shape and long, narrow stems that sway in the breeze. I suppose I have to have an appreciation for them.

   So, I decided it might be nice to make a garland since the garden flowers recently started blooming, and it turned out exceedingly well while being just as simple!
   I looked at the poppies growing in the garden for the overall shape of the flower, because they seem round, but aren't quite, and have 4 large petals.



You will need:
Standard A4 paper in your chosen colour
Pencil
A black pen
Scissors
Tape
String/twine

Method:
Fold the paper into quarters lengthways, then draw the outline of the flower. You should be able to draw two or three down the top surface of the folded paper, so try to vary the shapes. This will yield 12 flowers.


Cut the flowers out from the folded paper, then draw a black circle in the centre. Make it smokey by using black chalk, fade it with a black blendable pen, or just use a black felt tip or circle stamp.

Cut into the flower to create individual petals. This doesn't need to be perfect.


Crease the petals by making little pinches along the edges so the petals begin to curve with more dimension, then cup the flower in your hand, overlap the petals and press in the middle to give the flower more depth.

Lay out your string or twine and, using a small piece of tape, fix each flower to the string. Fixing them by the back of a petal rather than the centre of the flower will keep them hanging well.


   Use the garland to brighten a room, to wrap around a beam, drape over a picture frame, or even to wrap around a gift wrapped in plain brown paper to give it a bit of oomf.
    Try other flowers - pansies have very simple shapes, for example. Cut them out of white paper and colour the edges with purple chalk, add a bit of darker purple towards the inside of the flower and fix to string for a more colourfully varied garland.
   This poppy garland is also a nice decoration for memorial day, or for the anniversary of the first world war which falls on July 28th.






1 comment:

I do read every single comment, and I will try to respond where I can. If you have an important question about my blog or my shop, however, then you might be better off contacting me directly by email. Thanks so much for reading my blog!