framed flower art tutorial

i created these framed flower art projects about 6 months ago for a tutorial on little light studio. it never quite made it up onto the site, before kayla aimee delivered her precious baby girl at just 26 weeks. she's been devoting her every second to helping her daughter fight for her life. it's an amazing story to follow, and things are looking so good for them right now. 

i figured i would go ahead and share my little tutorial here on my blog.

 

i have had these framed pieces in the girls bathroom for years. eight years, to be exact. it was time for a change. they're cute. but the colors have gotten brighter and funner in their bathroom, as they have gotten older. and i wanted something to match that. the frames are good, solid, wood frames. there are four frames in the set, and they are about 11 inches x 11 inches in size.

 

i picked out some pattern papers that match the colors in the girls bathroom. the colors here look a little light. they're actually nice, bright shades of turquoise, orange, pink, and green. i choose pretty basic patterns, that wouldn't stand out all that much. i also dug out these older chipboard flowers from fancy pants. they're large flowers, that were a perfect fit for the inside part of each frame.  

 

if you have a regular frame, you would simply open up the backing, and take out the matboard that comes in the frame. these were prints that i had purchased at a store years ago, so they had a paper backing on the frames. i sliced into the paper, and peeled it all off from the edges of the frame. then i got to the staples that hold the matboard in place. i did my best to lift them up carefully, so that i would be able to use them to hold my finished project in place when i was done.

 

i cut a piece of white cardstock, to fit the center part of my matboard. then i cut my pattern paper to fit the outside part of the matboard. to cut out the center piece of the pattern paper, i just measure how far from the edges i need to cut. so on this, my pattern paper was 10x10 inches. and i needed to go in two inches from each side. so i cut out an 8x8 piece of the pattern paper from the center. then i adhered both the pattern paper and the cardstock to the matboard. measure, trim, and glue for the other three frames :)

 

next, i picked out four different acrylic paints. one to match each of the patterned papers. i used a foam brush to paint the chipboard flowers. i didn't spend too much time on this. didn't even paint the edges of the flower petals. two coats of paint gave good coverage.

 

next up, i choose four colors of embroidery floss, to match the chipboard flowers. one shade lighter or darker than your paint works best.

 

not sure why i keep showing three of the sets. there are four total. lol!

 

then i simply wrapped the floss around the flower petals, over and over. no need to overthink it, or make it too perfect. just randomly wrap, back and forth, along each petal. until it looks good to your eye. then move on to the next petal. when i was finished, i just taped the end of the floss to the back of the flower. looking back at this pink flower, i should have wrapped it around that center part as well. same with the turquoise flower. oh well.

 

here's the orange flower.

 

i think the green flower was my favorite.

 

after i had wrapped each of the flowers with the floss, i adhered them to the coordinating matboard. i used 3-D squishy pop dots to stick them down, since they're super strong, and sort of mold over all the string to give good coverage.

 

then i cleaned the glass on each frame, added the matboard, and secured them with the staples in the back of the frame.

 

the girls bathroom is terrible for taking photos. and small. i tried, but i just couldn't get a good photo of these in the bathroom. but trust me, they're super cute in there. i hung them just like you see here. two on top, and two on the bottom. but i spaced them all about an inch apart.

this was a pretty effortless and fun project. i love when i can re-purpose things around my house, and give them new life.

Comments

[Amy]

They are gorgeous!!!!

[dawn]

WOW WOW WOW WOW!! Had to wow it 4 times for four fantastic frames. I love this idea and that you showed us all the steps. What is my favorite is that you took that extra step and added floss to them, I would never have thought of that. This year my goal is to do more home decorating so please show us anytime you do something like this. I bet your girls were excited to see these.

I visited Kayla's blog and teared up over all she's been thru and how happy that Scarlett is doing better. This touched home with me because when I was born at full term my heart was the size of a 3yrold and before my mom/dad could see me they rushed me right to a life flight to our children's hospital. My poor parents were scared and clueless as what to do. It was a long, scary, hopeful, amazing couple months. I had to take special medication to slow down my heart size and then finally could come home. My mom still remembers when the doctors told her I could come home, she was soooo happpppyyyyy!! Thanks for sharing the story with us laura.

[marissa]

So cute and great idea! Great way to use up those old chipboard flowers I have been hoarding!

[Banu H]

WOW..these turned out just gorgeous. I am going to book mark this tutorial so that I can do some of these as Christmas Gifts for my friends. thanks so much for sharing this tutorial.

[Kathy (krolski)]

What a great project! These turned out so cute! Thanks for the tutorial!

[wendy]

These are absolutely adorable. Who would have thought about wrpping floss around the flowers. You really are the BOMB! I know the girls lov'em

[Laura T.]

Wow - those are just beautiful ... such a creative girl you are!

[Vera Wirianta Yates]

This is an awesome tutorial, Laura. I really need to start doing something like this besides just cards. Now, if only I can find extra time! :)

[Eileen Van Dyke]

First - these are fantastic! I love the idea and the colors are great!

Second - I have a question for you. I have a Making Memories paper trimmer and I have had it for many years and have loved it. Recently, it is not cutting very smoothly. I was wondering what trimmer you use and how do you like it. I'm thinking since my is old (got it when they first came out) it might be time for a replacement.
Thanks

[angie blom]

this is a beautiful idea.. I will have to look for some frames.. will love to make a set for my new niece that is on the way in May.

[Carla]

these are oh-so-cute!!!! I love the colors and they look so simple to make :)

[Heather Ruwe]

must try something like this. these are too cute! :)

[Amy]

LOVE these! Think I will try them, too! Thanks!

[Tonya]

i have been following Kayla's blog for a few months now, she has such faith and an adorable baby.
the redo of the frames are a great ideal.
i love the new look.

[Sarah Klemish]

Helloooo Miss Creative! SO cute!

[Sandra A]

Very creative! And it looks like something even I could do. lol

[Krista Lund]

love your project! way to repurpose!!

[Sara Rossi]

Seriously how cute are these!?!?! What's even better is that you already had them. So so cool! Makes me want to look around my house to see what I can re-do! ;)

[RUTH]

WOW! LOVE THAT IT'S SO SIMPLE. THANKS FOR THE IDEA.

[wendy b.]

I absolutely love these! Thanks for sharing!

[Megan Hoeppner]

Fab work, Laura! I LOVE these and will definitely do something like this in the future. TFS your bright ideas!