You know how, from June to September, you can’t open a magazine or watch a commercial or scroll through Pinterest without seeing incredibly gorgeous outdoor living spaces? Twinkly lights and flowing fabric and beautiful table settings that all make you long for that way of life, dining under the stars and sitting on a couch in the middle of a field? I always look at those pictures and think, “Lovely, but who’s putting all that away before the rain comes?” I want to have incredible outdoor living spaces, but I also need it to happen in a way that doesn’t require a moving truck every time the weather changes. Which means that if I’m going to hang up some decorations, it’s going to be done in a material that won’t melt with the dew. Today, that’s metal.
Craft metal is thin enough to cut with scissors, so you don’t need any special tools. Just the metal and then a way to color them that will stick. I love using these alcohol ink markers because they don’t need to be absorbed to dry so they’ll color up the metal and then won’t wipe away afterwards.
I cut four shapes per flower, going from a big flower to a little blob for the inside. You can see that I was not worried about making these shapes pristine. I basically cut blobby gingerbread men.
Use your alcohol markers to color the flowers. I loved experimenting to get patterns and textures, just based on how I used the markers.
Punch a hole in the center of each flower. I used an old-fashioned eyelet setter kit to do this.
Layer the flowers on top of each other and line up the center holes. Set an eyelet in the center to attach all the layers together.
Roll the petals around a pencil or other tool to give them dimension.
Arrange the petals and even give the whole thing a little crunch to make it look like a spectacularly blooming flower.
I made a bunch of these in different colors and it was a big success. I want to pin these to trees or string them together to make a bunting or even attach them to a stake for a permanent flower garden. A permanent garden that doesn’t need watering, and doesn’t need to be brought in when the party’s over.
