We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
"Little Gidding"
T S Eliot

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Suntan lotion and glitter do not mix!

I'm still working on projects for the craft group I run.  I did some Christmas card designs a couple of weeks ago, but I can only take Christmas in small doses, so temporarily put everything away.

It's all out again ..... and I think I now know what Christmas in the southern hemisphere must be like - wearing very little in this heat, apart from some glitter!

Last Christmas I designed a Christmas wreath project for the Ashtead Craft Club Saturday workshop, using origami flowers.

Really love these flowers,but they are quite time consuming to make, so it did take most of the day to finish.

I originally found the instructions for folding the flowers on Pinterest; there are several websites with instructions, here is one.

To use on a wreath, the bottoms of the flowers should be cut off to enable them to sit flat on the wreath base.  (My base is 2 circles of card cut from cereal packaging.)

This flower design can also be made with Christmas wrapping paper, because of the amount of folds involved, they are quite robust.






The flower also lends itself to other designs, for example in a Christmas table decoration.  Put them on a wire and fix into dry florist's foam. The bird is the Tim Holtz Caged Bird die.

The flowers also look good as individual Christmas tree decorations - just wind the wire stem around a tree branch.




I wanted to do a similar project for the craft group I run, but needed to find an easier flower to use for a 2 hour workshop.  I eventually found one on Pinterest.

I created another Christmas wreath, using some leftover Christmas paper from last year, and I think the new flower works really well.  The bow is a bit of an apology for one, as I didn't have enough ribbon!



I also made the flower out of wrapping paper, which worked well, though they they are not as robust as the original flower.

And a patterned paper - would make a pretty summer version.

These flowers are created using circles of paper, and are flat-bottomed, so perfect for a wreath.

There is a You Tube video showing how to make them.




Just one more Christmas project to complete, and then I can put the glitter away!

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