Christmas Glitter Foam Flower Decor

 

With the holiday season upon us, we're all scrambling for Christmas craft ideas to make! Welcome to the last session of the year for our Creative Craft Hop! We have two wonderful hosts - Donna @ Modern on Monticello and Sara @Birdz of a Feather who take turns every other month! The lovely and creative Sara is our host this month!   If you're coming over from  Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction, Welcome! Wasn't Cecilia's Gingerbread House adorable! 

If you follow my blog, you should know by now that I love making crafts out of  foam sheets especially glitter foam sheets! And this month I'll be making something really easy and simple - a Christmas Glitter Foam Flower! So let's get started!

Materials:

• Glitter Foam Sheet (12"x18")
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Clothes pins (clamps)
• Hot Glue 
• Embellishments

 Lay a 12"x18' glitter foam sheet down on your work surface. Measure out a four by eighteen inch piece and cut out.

Fold wrong sides together. Use clothes pins (won't leave marks) to hold the foam edges together. Cut the end of the folded foam sheet off at an angle.

Begin cutting the folded foam into slits at an angle - about 3/8" wide. I know that's an odd measurement. I eyeballed cutting the strips and should have measured the width first. But you don't need to be precise in cutting the slits.

Continue cutting the foam at an angle until .  .  .

reaching the end. Then cut off the end piece completely .  .  .

at an angle. 

Open the foam piece and add a drop of glue just inside the right side. I wrapped a few pieces of complementary floral embellishments together with wire to place in the center of the foam flower. 

Close together the glitter foam at an angle. Place the floral pick on top while wrapping the foam end over the pick to secure. 

Continue wrapping the entire folded foam strip around the pick - making sure the decorative loops stand out. You may want to add a few drops of glue to keep the folded foam sheet together. Did you notice I removed the center bulb in the floral pick? It didn't seem to be a uniform design with the rest of the pick pieces.

Keep wrapping the foam around and around until .  .  .

reaching the end. Then secure the end with hot glue.

Once the end is secure, cut out and glue on a matching small foam sheet circle to cover the open bottom.

I must say that this Christmas Glitter Foam Flower looks gorgeous!

Perfect on top of a Christmas gift wrap or .  .  .

in a tablesetting or .  .  .

 as a Christmas ornament hanging on a tree! Imagine making lots of ornaments in colorful glitter foam!

So many holiday decor options!

Up next is  Allyson from Southern Sunflowers  sharing her awesome ideas on creating Christmas Clay Pot crafts! 

And be sure to check out all of the talented bloggers sharing their amazing creations listed below: 

Easy DIY Pine Cone Christmas Trees and Topiaries

Crochet Mug Cozy Pattern Free

Hot Cocoa Reindeer

Christmas Deer Revamp

Easy Rag Garland Decor

Darling Gingerbread House Crafted with Dollar Store Decor

Christmas Glitter Foam Flower Decor

Christmas Clay Pot Craft Ideas for Santa and Elf

Three Easy Christmas Tree Ribbon DIY Projects

Foam Sheet Ruffles and Cardboard Valentine Wreath

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!

Dress up any door or wall with this adorable Valentine Wreath!  I love crafting with foam sheets - also called eva foam. They can be shaped and manipulated with heat into lovely creations - I think so much better and easier than using felt or paper! You can find some of my previous foam sheet creations here, here, here, and here, just to show a few. The best part about this is wreath is that it is totally a recycle craft starting with a cardboard box and newspaper! And you won't believe how easy it is to make! 

Materials:

Cardboard box 

Newspaper

Marker

Scissors

Craft knife

Foam Sheets

Tacky Glue

DAP RapidFuse All Purpose Adhesive

3" Circle Punch

Small electric griddle/iron

Ribbon for hanging

How I made it:

First, I cut out the side of a large cardboard box for the wreath base.

Then, I created a heart shape template out of newspaper by folding a full newspaper sheet in half, drawing a half heart as large as the height of the cardboard.

Cut that out and open it on top of the cardboard to trace! 

Next, used the newspaper heart to draw a heart approximately 2" smaller to cut out. Then use that as a template to trace a smaller heart in the middle of the larger heart .  .  .

to cut out. 

And then applied tacky glue to one side and placed a foam sheet on top, smoothing it out. 

Let dry completely for a few hours.

While the foam heart shape base was drying, began punching out foam circles using a 3" circle punch. I could get 20 circles from a 12"x18" foam sheet and used four different shades of pink foam sheets to cut out 80 circles. It was easier to turn the circle punch over so I could see and adjust the position of the foam sheet and have less waste between circles.

Once all the circles were punched out, it was time to make the ruffles using a small electric griddle on low.  If you don't have an electric griddle, you can use the flat surface of an iron on low heat that's safely propped up. Once I placed the foam circle on the griddle, I watched closely to see the edges curl up. Then quickly picked up the circle, holding in the sides gently .  .  .

to create the ruffle.

I also used my fingers on my other hand to push in the opposite sides for more ruffles.

Continued heating and picking up the circles to shape into ruffles  .  .  .

until all the circles were ruffles! Then grouped them together in like colors.

Next, I started gluing on the ruffles along one side using a quick drying glue called DAP RapidFuse.  I tried using hot glue first, but hot glue doesn't bond well foam sheet to foam sheet. It was quite messy and took too much time to dry and stick. Phewy! So I got out my trusty RapidFuse glue to use! A super glue would work too.

With the four different shades I was able to glue on a different shade next to each other for a nice visual effect.

I'm quite pleased with how the wreath looks!

  These pictures don't quite show its' fabulous uniqueness!

And finally, I tied a ribbon into a bow and then stapled the tails onto the back for hanging.

How lovely is this!

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy,

Happy Crafting!

Floating Foam Lotus Flower

The lotus is an amazing flower - it may look delicate and beautiful but it has the quality and meaning of being resistant and strong - rising out of mud and murky waters to form a beautiful flower, symbolizing strength and growth. 

What a lovely way to accent your outdoor water features or decor with a handcrafted beautiful floating lotus flower! You often see them in ponds and pools and in festive outdoor celebrations including weddings! They're also stunning indoors, floating in a large bowl or as an accent piece on furniture, too!  Want to learn how to make one of these beauties? Here's an easy to follow tutorial that I'm also sharing at our 2019 Summer Fun Link Party! 

Materials needed:
Printer paper or cardstock to make a template
Scissors
Craft skewer stick
Foam sheets
Soft Pastels (powdered pigments)
Paper towel
Iron/parchment paper 
DAP - all purpose adhesive 

Instructions:
Make a template of petals by folding paper or cardstock and drawing a line in the shape of a half petal and cut out. 

Next, use a skewer stick to outline petals on foam sheet and cut out. Petals can also be made smaller by cutting the foam around the bottom edge for different sizes. 

To shape and soften foam petals without hear, twist and pull foam in different directions.

And then add color to petals but using a small piece of paper towel to rub over the pastels, blending in the colors onto the petals. After coloring, sandwiched petals between two sheets of parchment paper, heating with an iron to set, and pulling the petals to lengthen and shape.

Next, form the lotus flower by cutting out a circle from the foam sheet and begin gluing on the petals in clockwise positions (3 & 9) using an all purpose adhesive that's quick dry, waterproof and dries clear like DAP all purpose adhesive.  I would not recommend using hot glue since it's not water resistant and may melt from the heat of the sun. 

Continue gluing petals on clockwise (6 & 12) .  .  .

and in-between .  .  .

adding shorter petals as you get closer to the center.

Curl the center petals by heating with an iron and rolling the foam petals together.

To make the stamen, cut a strip of yellow foam sheet about 1/2" wide and fringe the edges leaving a border.  

For the lily pad, and for a more realistic look, cut off the stem and round off the pointed edges of a large faux anthurium leaf into the shape of a pad. Or you can cut out a large circle from a green foam sheet, making wavy edges as you cut around.

Once the foam strip is fringed, roll it together, gluing in place every few inches. Add additional glue to base and apply in center of lotus flower. Attach the completed lotus flower to pad with glue placed in the center.

And yes, it really floats! 

Want to be inspired with more Summer Fun Ideas? Be sure to stop by and join in the fun at our 

Summer Fun Link Party 

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy,

Happy Crafting!