Top Secret Flower Tutorial

Hello everyone in the bloggy world.  This is Jeannie from The Polka Cabana with yet another FLOWER tutorial for you!  Last week I had such a nice response to my rainbow flowers and quite a few of you said YES to my offer for a tutorial, so that is what I am going to share with you today.

I use inexpensive tissue paper for these flowers.

The first thing I do is to cut strips long enough to fit the CUTIES #4 die on.  I make them wide enough to cut 2 times from the paper. The stack is cut from the unfolded pack of paper.  I use the whole thickness (30 sheets deep) for the flowers.

Here is my big secret...my dye!  I'd love to use some sort of expensive dye, but I am a struggling artist after all and can't afford something like that.  I had this idea to take Kool-Aid packets and mix with a little bit of water and rubbing alcohol to make my own die.  Here you can see the bottles all mixed and lined up ready to go.

I have the papers on top of a cookie rack, which is on top of a cookie sheet, to catch any drips that might occur. I like to try to do 2 complete ROYGBIV patterns on the tissue paper.

Here you can see I have gotten all the dye on the paper, now they need to dry.  I put the, in the oven at 170 degrees for about 20 min.  But, I do not endorse this as I know paper in the oven...sounds risky!

Here the strips are all dry.

After I cut all my cuties, I like to stitch them to keep them together. ( I lengthen the stitch to make sure the machine does not destroy the flowers,)

When putting these together, whether you choose to stitch them like me, or glue them, it is imperative to have the petals of the 2 die cut strips lined up so that the bottom layer of petals show up in the gap of the petals in the top layer.  Below is a close up of what I am trying to say.

To assemble the flowers, I use these sticks that are about the size of toothpicks, without the pointy ends.

Apply hot glue to the tip of one of the sticks and roll the beginning of the flower around the stick...

...and hold there until the glue is dry.

Then just roll the flower up and secure with another drop of hot glue.

Next, cut the stick very as close as you can get to the base of the flower.

On a circle about 5/8 wide, have a big dollop of hot glue waiting and...

...glue the flowers to the circle.

After the glue is dry, I take a very soft toothbrush to fluff and separate the tissue paper layers.

Here they are all fluffed up.

When using these types of flowers, I like to have a nice crisp white background.

 I have only used the Cuties #4 flowers and the Dancing Doily Lace Border.

They make such a colorful presentation.

So, there you have it!  I kept my word and divulged my secret!  

I hope you have enjoyed my post today.

Be sure to check out our current Challenge.  This week our theme is

DRY EMBOSSING.  You can get all the details here.

I am off to pack, heading to Southern California for CHA! 

 I am so excited to be there with Cheery Lynn Designs.

This has been Jeannie from The Polka Cabana with today's post.