Mya’s party was yesterday and it was a blast. I just have to filter through the 502 photos (no, I’m surprisingly not exaggerating) and we’ll share the highlights soon! But until then, we have one of our favorite crafty things from her birthday bash: a flower wall!
We always forget to take pictures with family, so I thought a flower wall would encourage us to document throughout the day… and it did! Derek captured some great moments with loved ones and we even remembered to snap some with just us three.
And another beautiful aspect about this project was that we already owned all the items!
WHAT YOU NEED
Table runner: A thicker material is better because you will be pinning and clipping the flowers to it.
2 small finishing Nails (and hammer to hang)
Brown paper bags: Assorted sizes are great, but you can cut them down to whatever size desired.
Paint + brush: I used latex paint– Sherwin Williams and Behr samples from previous projects.
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Hole punch
String
Binder clips
Safety pins
HOW TO MAKE A PAPER BAG FLOWER
1. Collect an assortment of brown paper bags. Use what you have and don’t over think the proportions. They will all look balanced once you have them clustered together. I used large grocery bag sizes, Chipotle bags, and other random sized shopping bags.
2. Cut down one edge of the bag and remove the bottom of the bag. This allows you to have a flat surface on which to begin painting. If there are handles, remove them while trying to cause as little damage to bag as possible.
3. For painting, I used two colors per bag. Paint on the outside of the bag (even if there are images. The inside of the bag seemed to have more imperfections after removing handles; and the images aren’t easily visible after painting over them.) I wanted the finished product to have gradient from the flower center to the petal tips. To achieve that look, brush on Paint A with strokes of color down the middle of your bag. Then brush on Paint B on either side of Paint A to eventually reveal your starburst effect.
4. Fold strips (approximately 1 – 1.5 inches wide) following the transverse side of the bag.
5. Find the middle of fan and use your hole punch to go through each strip, making sure they line up with each other.
6. Thread a piece of string (approximately 6 inches long) through the holes.
7. Tie tightly and secure with knot on the backside (non-painted side) of the bag.
8. Cut edges to form petal shapes.
9. Join fan sides and hot glue together to create circular shape.
10. Wa-lah! Flower complete!
Hang your table runner using two nails at top two corners. Then just use some binder clips and safety pins to attach string and secure your paper bag flowers to the table runner. Flower wall complete. It’s so colorful and vibrant– it just makes me smile. I’m not quite ready to store it away just yet; and I’ll definitely be taking back out in the Spring. Who knew paper bags could look so fun and create such a fun installation!
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