Designer Craft Connection - Handmade Flowers

Hi Crafters!

Welcome to another round in the Designer Craft Connection hop.  This month we are featuring Handmade Flowers.  And, to further challenge ourselves, we are making them with recyclable materials.  That is no problem for me; I just had to decide which of my fabulous collectibles I wanted to use.  I have been saving used dryer sheets for a long time and have built up quite a stash, so I decided they would be perfect for flower making.  They're sheer like petals and have a nice sparkle to them.  After looking around the internet where I found great ideas for layered flowers and rolled roses, I decided on carnations.

First I pressed my dryer sheets to get out the wrinkles, then I cut out circles with pinking shears.  If you have a cutting machine, you can cut them out with that.

You can cut them out in a variety of sizes if you like.  The biggest you'll get is about 5" in diameter.

Then, I dyed the circles in a bowl of water with a few drops of food coloring.  Leftover Easter egg dyes would probably work great, too.  After they dried, I made cuts into the circles to fringe the edges.  (Don't cut all the way into the center or your flower will fall apart.)

Layer the circles one on top of the other and fold them in half.  Pinch the center and twist it.

Wrap a floral wire or craft wire around the twist. 

Wrap the stem with floral tape.

Here's the finished flower.

Here's a flower without cuts or dye.

Here's a bouquet of them.

Have fun making lots of different variations of this flower.  You could use more layers, put different colors together or add a button or jewel in the center.  Make a corsage.  Or, add it to a card.  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!

Happy crafting!

And, don't forget to click on the big blue DCC button to see all the other handmade flowers!