Crafts and Hobbies Articles and Information
provided by BeadLinks.com
Bead Links on The Net Find Bead Links for Bead Stores Around the World
 | |
| |
 |
BeadLinks.com Home | Directory of Craft & Hobby Articles | Browse Craft & Hobby Articles from the Top | The Down The Street Bead Show Articles on Artistic Creativity |
|
|
|
Make A Stunning Dried Hydrangea Wreath
Dried hydrangea wreaths are so beautiful and versatile in a home, and a lot of fun to make as well. You can either purchase already dried hydrangea flowers from your local craft store, or you can dry your own. The biggest trick when drying your own is the timing of when you pick the flowers. It is best to pick them right before you anticipate your first fall frost. If you pick them mid-summer, they just will not dry correctly. You can either hang them upside down in a darkened room to dry, or you can set them in a vase upright, even adding a tiny bit of water in the bottom of the vase, although even that is optional. As long as they are picked at the correct time, it's difficult to fail with them. It's fun if you can, to pick several blooms from different bushes, as it will provide a nice variety of colors to the wreath. After they are dried, pick off any dead / discolored brown blooms. Now, pick the type of base you want to use for a wreath. My personal favorites are either Styrofoam or grapevine type wreath bases. Take some floral wire and wrap it around the wreath, then form a loop of the wire to hang from the wall, and then wrap the wreath again. You might try hanging it from the wall at this point to make sure it lies correctly, and then make any needed adjustments while the wreath is bare. To do a Styrofoam wreath, use a low melt point hot glue gun. Separate each bloom into smaller florets. Hot glue each floret into the wreath base, actually poking the stem down into the Styrofoam base. With each bloom, space it out over the surface of the wreath, for example; a floret at the top, next left side, bottom, then right side, then inside the circle of the wreath, and outside of the wreath. Continue to do this with each bloom until you fill it. Balance is what you are looking for. Balance in shape, you don't want any sticking out way above the others, you don't want one side of the wreath to be fuller than the other. Try stepping back and looking at a distance and just think "balance of shape". The second area to look for is balance of color. This is the purpose of doing each bloom all over, then filling in, so you achieve that balance of color. Give another once over to check on that. Now, this wreath is either finished, or you can add perhaps add small sprigs of dried baby's breath to it. Really depends on the look you want. Sometimes the simplicity of only the hydrangeas is stunning. For a grapevine wreath, it's the same principal but a different look. You can tie a bow on the wreath if you want (if you do, do so before adding flowers), or ribbon. I like to leave bare spaces on these to be able to see the grapevine portion as well. Again, look for balance. You can also add dried roses to it or any other type of dried flowers or grasses too. You can get really creative with these and come up with very different looks. Experiment to your heart's content. Many times people expect dried floral arrangements to last forever, and are disappointed when they start looking bad after a few years. This is a misconception. Expect them to look good for about a year, that's really about all they were meant to last. If they are in direct sunlight it will be a much shorter time. However, the next year, feel free to strip the old flowers off, and make another with the same base for another year's worth of a gorgeous hand made wreath! By Valerie Garner-Mother, grandmother and candlemaker / owner of Joyful Designs in Soy. She loves to write on a variety of topics with a warm, and engaging style. http://www.joyfuldesignsinsoy.com
MORE RESOURCES:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Make A Stunning Dried Hydrangea Wreath Dried hydrangea wreaths are so beautiful and versatile in a home, and a lot of fun to make as well.You can either purchase already dried hydrangea flowers from your local craft store, or you can dry your own. Stress-Free Scrapbook Journaling Ideas Do you find it intimidating when you come to journal your scrapbook pages?You are not alone! Many scrapbookers find it hard to get started when it comes to adding journaling to their scrapbooking layouts.If you are one of those people who go blank at the thought of having to journal, don't worry. What Do I Need to Start Scrapbooking? The best thing about scrapbooking is that although there are a plethora of scrapbooking supplies available on the market, you really don't need a lot to make your very first scrapbook. Basically, all you need to scrapbook is an album, some glue, a pair of scissors, and some photographs or newspaper clippings. The Unusual Characteristics Of Reverse Painting By stepping backwards in time one can discover an important part of art history associated with reverse painting on glass.It was an era that heralded the use of this art form 'en masse' during which people in communities could directly express in their own original way what they lived, perceived and felt in their own daily lives. Cupcake Candles With candle making, there are hardly any limits. You can replicate lots of things with your creativity. Are Your Airbrush Products Selling? If So, Here Are 3 Ways To Further Skyrocket Sales! One of the biggest challenges faced by airbrush artists are proof of what you say is true! The potential customer is going to find it hard to believe you. Whether it is, if you can do the work, whether they think you are charging them too much, or it is simply that you are artistic, potential customers are going to find it hard to trust you. Civil War Uniforms: 5 Tips on Making Your Trousers Last Forever! Are your pants wearing out too fast?Does it look like you are expecting a flood because your pants are too short?Make your Civil War Uniform trousers last forever by following these 5 tips!1. Cut your trousers long, so when you first start wearing them you will have to roll them up a few times. Aromatherapy Candles - How to Select the Right Scent Feel sad, tired, or a little bit stressed? Something as simple as an aromatherapy candle could help you relax and feel happier. But not all scented candles have this effect. Decorative Metal Work Techniques From The Early 1900s Today's Metal Craft workers should truly appreciate the artistic skills & techniques used exclusively by the highly skilled metal artisans from almost one hundred years ago.Decorative metalworking is undergoing a new renaissance as more &more people become involved in hobby metal craft. Embroidery Designs and Thread Colors for Machine Embroidery Sewing I wish that I had a nickel for each time I've been asked forthe "exact" colors I used in aan embroidery design or for a conversion chart for specific embroidery thread brands - I would be a very wealthy woman!Everyone seems to think that someone is going to knock on their door with a search warrant if they don't use the exact colors a designer used in the test sew out or the color numbers used in the stitch directions.Not so - if you don't "think outside the box" and use colors that you enjoy, or just prefer, you are really missing the real fun of machine embroidery! Come to think of it, I don't believe that I've ever used the exact color on any design I've ever stitched in 6+ years-some because I didn't have the exact color & others due to a dislike of the colors used. Tracing Your Family History Let me say straight away that tracing your family ancestry is a great hobby but very addictive, so unless you want to get well and truly hooked, don't start.When I travel around the country to Family History Fairs, I am amazed at the number of people who say quite cheerfully, "family history is so easy, I did mine in half an hour on the internet. Gold Jewelry Hallmarking Secrets Revealed We should be familiar with the BASIC hallmarks mentioned on the website. It might pay you to read them again, just to bring you up to speed and ensure you have grasped the principles. Marking Tools and Laser Marking Machines for Marking on Metals Marking tools are used for marking metals and non-metal surfaces. Mark can be a company logo designed with alphabets, numeric pattern or any graphical shape. Make Your Own Professional Gift Baskets Ever given your family or friends a beautiful gift basket? Gift baskets are such a wonderful gift and can be given for any occasion. However, if you are like me you don't have a clue where to start, let alone how to put one together?. How to Use Feathers and Dried Flowers to Give Your Scrapbooks an Artistic Feel Feathers make exotic and interesting embellishments and borders. Feathers add an air of softness. How To Make a Pinata MATERIALSA Large Round or Oval BalloonNewspaper, torn into 1 inch by 6-8" inch stripsWhite computer paper or paper towels,torn into stripsFlour and water mixture for paper mache pasteSaltVegetable oilPaintTissue paperCrepe paperString or yarn for hangingINSTRUCTIONSPrepare:Prepare your work surface with a layer of newspaper you can discard, or an old plastic tablecloth you can wipe clean of goop and glops which are part of this messy project!Tear several pages of newspaper into strips, approximately 1 inch wide by 6-8 inches long. Don't try to be neat and cut them with scissors; the torn edges will adhere more closely and give a smoother overall surface to the finished pinata. Wholesale Scrapbooking: Should You Start A Direct Sales Scrapbooking Business Just The Discount? Have you ever thought about signing on with a scrapbooking direct sales company, just to get the discount on your own supplies? It can be a great way to get your own product at a discount and meet other scrapbookers, but it's also important to read the fine print. Here are seven of the most important factors to consider:1. Easy Crafts for Kids - Help with Learning According to the research on child cognitive development, making use of basic easy crafts for kids can stimulate their mental growth and enhance the learning process. Since early times, mankind has always known that early crafts for kids taught some important lessons. Need A Scrapbook Journaling Idea? Try using song lyrics in your next layout.Song lyrics can be a great source of title and page inspiration for a scraper. A Playtime Project: The Memory Quilt A friend recently suggested a use for my daughter's first wardrobe, which I've dutifully saved in the back of the closet, and lugged on two long distance relocations. Turns out she's done the same thing with her daughter's first clothes, and we've decided to make memory quilts.
|
www.beadAbead.com
    
Sell Your Beads & Crafts Online. We are part of a 28,000+ high traffic classified website network. Post Your Free Picture Classified Ads Today |
|
|
| BeadLinks.com Home | Directory of Crafts & Hobbies Listings | Browse Crafts & Hobbies From Top | The Down The Street Bead Show |
| © 2006 |