DIY Fall Sunflower Decor

Sunflowers are perfect for the Fall season! Using them is a good way to brighten your autumn decor - especially when they're in unique colors - which happen to be a beautiful variation for the lovely old- fashion garden flower. When you think of sunflowers for fall, you think of pretty blooms of bright yellow flowers - but they also come in cool shades of deep pink, and others, too!

I recently purchased fabric in a popular black and white check sprinkled with deep pink sunflowers from a site called Spoonflower. The fabric inspired me to make a few sunflowers out of foam sheets and to use a portion of the fabric to decoupage a vase for this month's Fall Crafts & Decor Blog Hop, hosted by Beverly @Across the Blvd.  It's a fun way to usher in the Fall season!

So let's get started with making the sunflowers first.

Material Used:

• Foam Sheets - 1mm
• 4" circle template
• Scissors
• Iron
• Cardboard
• Floral stem wire
• Hot glue
• Brown Chenille stems
• Floral pliers
• Black acrylic paint/sponge
• Floral tape
• Green crepe paper

Begin by drawing nine - 4" circle on foam sheets and cut out.

Next, fold the circle in half and .  .  .

fold again.

Then cut slits on the four folds.

Then cut slits evenly spaced between the four cuts and then two more evenly spaced between those slits .  .  .

for a total of 16 cuts. Then begin rounding off the sides of each segment. First one side and .  .  .

then flip the circle over and do the other side of the segments. 

Be sure to angle your cuts on the second segments to form a point on each segment or petal as you cut.

Once all the petals are cut, heat each one on a medium hot iron for a few seconds
folding the segment (petal) together while curling the tip down.

Continue heating each petal until .  .  .

all are folded and curved.

Repeat for each of the remaining eight circles. Then group in stacks of three.

Cut out three 1.5" circles from cardboard, punching a hole in center. Wrap the end of a floral stem into a circle using floral pliers, 

and bend into a right angle.

Then insert stem wire into hole in cardboard, gluing the bent circle wire in the center.

Next, twist together two chenille stems, end to end, and begin rolling one end together in a circle.

Add glue to the top of the cardboard and stem wire .  .  .

and attach the chenille circle. This will be the center or disk florets of the sunflower.

 Add black paint to darken and let dry.

Next, add glue to the bottom of the center and push stem through the center of a sunflower layer.

Then add the other two layers, gluing between each layer.

Once all three sunflower layers are in place, add a dab of hot glue to center stem, adding two more wire stems beside it and begin taping all together using floral tape.

Next, cut out leaves by folding crepe paper and cutting half oval shapes.

Attach leaves to sunflower stem wires using hot glue for a lovely effect.

To decoupage a glass vase with the black and white check and sunflowers fabric : You will also need Matte Mod Podge, brush, and scissors. 

First, make sure glass is clean and free of any dirt and oil and let dry. Then measure fabric around the vase where you want to attach it and cut out. Apply mod podge in increments to glass where the fabric will go.

Lay fabric down on top of mod podge, smoothing it out.

Next, lift fabric up and over to where you need to add more mod podge to glass. Continue adding mod podge and .  .  .

smoothing fabric down over the glue .  .  .

until you reach the area where you began. Make sure to line up the design before cutting off any excess fabric.

Then apply a layer of mod podge over all of the fabric to seal in place.

Cut slits in excess fabric on bottom, smoothing it out and let dry. Add a circle of fabric to area to conceal and cover with more mod podge and let dry. Sorry, I thought I had a picture of that.

How cool is this! Perfect for Fall!

Each month, a group of craft, home decor, and recipe bloggers co-host a themed blog hop. This month, we’re all sharing Fall Crafts & Decor Projects!

Our Co-Hosts:

Beverly | Across the Blvd

T'onna | Sew Crafty Crochet

Gail | Purple Hues and Me

Marci | Stone Cottage Adventures

Julie | Sum of Their Stories 

Click titles below to see how other’s met the Fall Crafts & Décor Challenge.

Beaded Napkin Rings for Fall

 Orchard Table Runner

DIY Fall Sunflower Décor

Autumn Gift Jar with Scrap Fabric Gift Tag

Crafty Skills for Hire Halloween Décor

DIY Foam Flowers On Canvas

Have you been looking for that special type of wall art to create for your home?  Why not try making foam flowers on canvas! All you need is a blank canvas and some foam sheets! Foam flowers give off an amazing realistic effect - a perfect alternative to the real thing! You can also get creative with just about any color, too - like using my favorite color, purple! Lol! And you won't believe how easy it is to incorporate pretty foam flowers into canvas wall art - perfect for this month's DIY Challenge which is all about anything pertaining to canvas! If you coming over from Carol @Bluesky At Home, welcome! Wasn't her fall leaf art fabulous!

So let's get started with showing you how to make foam flowers:

Materials Needed:

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

• Foamiran Sheets - 1mm or under
• Printer paper
• Flower Petal Punch 
• Iron
• Bamboo skewer stick
• Ball tool (round end of utensil)
• Sponge (Dollar Tree)
• Stamens
• Floral wire
• 3-in-1 Beacon Advanced Craft Glue
• Canvas
• Cardstock paper
• Scissors
• Paper rush (stems)
• Acrylic paint/brush

For this project we will be using foamiran (foam) sheets. These are not the usual craft foam sheets you find in craft stores. Those are too thick to make realistic looking flowers. You will need thin sheets between 1mm-0.6mm thick. The thinner, the better. Unfortunately, this type of foam sheets need to be ordered online. I can't find them in craft stores anymore - Dollar Tree use to sell packs of the thin foam sheets a couple of years ago and I loved them for making flowers, but they're no longer available. 

Next, is using a flower puncher to make the petals. If you're making a lot of flowers, it's so much easier to punch them out then to draw and cut out individually.  And the best way to do this is by sandwiching a sheet of printer paper together with the foam sheet in order to get nice, sharp edges on the flower petals. For this, I punched out twenty or more petals. But you can always make the petals by hand as I did here. 

Next, set an iron on medium hot temperature with no steam. Then place the petal on the iron, holding in place with the end of a skewer stick until the edges curl.

Once the petal curls (after a few seconds), let the foam petal fall off the iron, quickly picking it up and rolling it between your  fingers.  Unroll the petal and shape each petal, stretching with thumbs and fingers while it is still warm.

Then place the petal on a soft sponge and use the round end of a utensil to add curvature and shape.

For the center, fold a piece of floral wire (6") in half, then group lots of stamen together .  .  .

wrapping the wire loop around the center of the stamens - folding them together while twisting the wire. Then insert the wire ends into the center of one flower petal pulling the stamen threads down  . . 

through the center until just the stamen tops are showing.

Next, get another flower petal and pull the stamen thread through the same way. Then add multi-purpose glue to the stamen threads near the foam and bottom of the flower petal to seal in place. Let dry and cut off excess stamen threads so the flower bottom center will be somewhat flat. 

Then create nine more flowers the same way as before.

Now it's time to arrange the flowers on the canvas. I already had an oval canvas left over from a previous project and I decided to use it for this. But perhaps you might like a rectangular shape canvas instead. It's up to you!

Anyway, I drew a vase shape on decorative cardstock and cut it out. Then glued it on the bottom center of the canvas. The top of the vase was left open to place  the stems inside. 

Next, I cut off paper rush pieces from a roll that I had and painted them green. Once the stems were dry, I arranged and glued them on the canvas.

And then began gluing on the flowers!

Don't the flowers look fabulous on canvas!

And finally, added a few small faux leaves to complete the look!

What a strikingly beautiful dimensional foam flowers on canvas project! 

 

Welcome to our monthly DIY Challenge hosted by Terrie @Decorate and More with Tip! On the first Wednesday of the month, Terrie hosts a DIY Challenge with a group of talented bloggers who love to create budget friendly décor for their homes. For the month of August we were tasked with making anything pertaining to Canvas! 

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial on making foam flowers onto canvas wall art! Next up is Tammy @Patina and Paint, sharing her gorgeous canvas rug! To see more canvas project ideas, click on the blog titles below to checkout their awesome creations: 

                                     

DECORATE AND MORE WITH TIP                                            BLUESKY AT HOME 

                                        PURPLE HUES AND ME                                                           PATINA AND PAINT

                                            

    The House House                                              Paula's Homemade Space

                                                                                   

 

       K's Olympic Nest