a flower wreathe circle thing.

I had this very vague idea in my head about how I wanted to pay tribute to summertime by hanging a big sunshine on my blue door.  I bought this round floral foam for the purpose, but never could solidify an idea.  And now it’s the end of August.  Where did summer go???

So the other day, I whipped out the floral foam and determined once and for all to make the sunshine idea work - then I would hang it and use it as an homage and farewell to summer.  Sad (but actually not too sad because it was way too hot and muggy here for comfort, so I am looking very forward to fall.  I don’t think I’ve ever been happy to see Summer go.  First time for everything, right?)

I toyed with a lot of ideas, but this is what finally worked its way into fruition.  

I think the craft kind of made itself, because I had no plan going in!  And it’s fairly easy, and very messy, work, 

You gotta have:

Round (flat) floral foam

yellow tissue paper

mod podge

a glue gun

a scrap of ribbon

desire to make a big mess

upholstery tack (optional)

First, cut a bunch of tissue paper into strips the long way, about two inches wide or so.

Set these aside for now. 

Lay out a single sheet of tissue paper and fold it in half.

Cover one side of your foam circle with mod podge.

Lay it face down in the middle of the tissue paper.

Spread some mod podge all over the rest of the foam.

Fold one side of the tissue paper up and over the foam.  

Spread on some mod podge 

and fold the other side of the tissue paper up and over the foam.

Now, fold the ends like a present.  

This side is now the top.  (The side with more layers of tissue paper on it)  It doesn’t really matter what it looks like at this point, because it will be hidden, so don’t worry that there are wrinkles and creases and stuff.  You want the side with all the layers to be the front because obviously it covers the green foam better.

Now you need to make your flowers.  Take your strips, one at a time, and twist them up,

then spread mod podge all along them.

Starting at the end, roll them up while twisting them - rolled rose style, like these.

Keep rolling,

and rolling.

When you get to the end, just smooth it down, it’ll look seamless with all the podge on there.

Now do this a bazillion more times.

This is the part that is really messy.  If you are like me, you’ll have mod podge up your arms and in your hair when you’re done.  But I think the messy crafts are the most fun, anyway!

You will probably need to make a few smaller ones, but you will want them to be the same thickness and fluffiness as the big ones, so don’t twist them any tighter or cut them any skinnier.  Just rip a little tissue paper off the ends of some of the strips you’ve already cut - maybe four inches or so - and construct them the same way as the big ones.

Now, put some podge in the middle of the foam circle

and squish a big flower on there.

Put podge all around it, and place your other flowers,

saving the small ones for the outer layer.

When you are done placing them, you will need to kind of squish them together so they are sitting just how you want them to and the spacing is just right.  They will feel like they’re going to fall apart the second you breathe, but don’t worry.  In a couple minutes that podge’ll be dry and you can huff and puff all you want.

Now, take those ends you cut off, and one at a time,

hold it the long way,

fold the bottom left corner up to the top right corner,

and pinch the bottom together.  

The idea is to make it look kind of triangular in shape.  Like this:

Dab some hot glue on the bottom, 

and place it on the side of the foam circle. 

Do this all around the circle.

When you’re finished, take a step back and consider.  Most likely you will notice bare spots, like this one.  Nope, not finished.

Fill in all the bald spots.

And that’s that.

Now, take your ribbon, fold it in a loop and hold it in place on the back of your... um... flower wreath circle thing.

Put a dab of hot glue down to hold it in place.

Put a dab of hot glue on the post of the upholstery tack and stick it in the ribbon.  There.  Extra hold.

Hang it on your door.

Admire.

Admire some more.

Ah, yellow.  I adore you.

Now that I look at it, I think it would be super cute with brown tissue paper rolled roses in the middle and the yellow around the outside - like a sunflower!

Phew, finished.  Go start your fall wreathe, so you can hopefully get it up before Christmas.

PS - don’t you like how podge and I are so close I can use its nickname?  That’s right, we’re like THIS.