Handmade Fall Silk Flowers Arrangement perfect for Fall Decor

I made this beautiful fall color theme Silk flowers arrangement specially for my Mom. Usually, I am not a big fan of silk flowers as I prefer to make them myself (paper or clay). For a change I thought when I know I am short of time, and still want to splash some newness and color I decided to use silk flowers this time.
I wanted to make something for my Mom during her visit to US, so that she can take it back home to India and have something to decorate.
So this is what I came up with. I loved the way it turned out. In the process I bought one vase and some flowers for myself too.

It was fun making this. I could not take the pictures of the steps as it was a last minute thing I was putting together.
But just to give you some idea.
Material needed:

-Floral Stems in co-ordinating colors. Big flowers and small flowers and some fillers.
-Green and brown floral tape
-pliers
-Floral Foam
-Craft knife
-Vase

Basic Rules of Flower Arrangements
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Basic steps of flower arrangements are to decide how do you want the final arrangement to look like.
I had similar things in mind. Best is to sketch it, but I didn't.

You need to decide how tall will be the arrangement and then cut the floral stems accordingly.
Start with big flowers. Give a basic structure of the arrangement with that.
The floral foam goes in the vase and secures all the stems that you will insert.

Rest you need to fill with fillers. Just make sure there are no gaps and the foam is not visible.
Use your imagination and remember you might need more flowers than you think.

Give it a try. Its fun.

Clay Cherry Blossom in a Vase

Bring spring in your home with this beautiful cherry blossom in a vase. This flower arrangement can be put as a centerpiece on a dining table or can beautify your corner lamp stand or may be an end table. Wherever you keep this handmade cherry blossom it is definitely going to make the space the center of attraction. This classy arrangement is something you can make yourself with a little effort.
Refer picture below for a closer look.


Supplies you need:
- Air dry clay- white and red
- Pollens
- Bamboo skewer
- Floral wire
- Brown floral tape
- Vase
- Dry stems from your backyard


Follow the above picture for the step wise instructions to create this beautiful cherry blossom in clay. To begin with you need to mix the white air dry clay with a pinch of red. Mix well. Try to reach the desired shade of pink. Once you get the desired shade keep the clay covered as it dries really quickly.
-Take a small tear drop of clay as in the picture above.
-Holding the tear drop in your hand, put the bamboo skewer at the center and start rotating both the clay and the skewer. Keep rotating till you get the thickness like of petals as shown.
-Flatten it and cut petals as shown using pointed scissors.
-Using your fingers fold the edges of the petals downward as shown.
-Use skewers to highlight the center of the cherry blossom.
-Insert pollens at the center
-Insert wire and let the flower dry for few hours or may be overnight.
-To make buds you can use the tear drop shape.
-Complete by covering the floral wire using brown tape.
-Arrange the flowers the way you like.
This is how I arranged it. For making the below arrangement you will need about 40 flowers. Have fun creating this handmade clay cherry blossom flower arrangement this spring.


Tips: Air dry clay is available in craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
You can also order them online from Amazon or similar websites.
We recommend using Delight or Deco clay for this project.
Instead of red clay you can also use acrylic paint.
It is a good idea to prepare the clay all at once to make sure you get the same shade in all flowers.

Handmade Clay Roses and Cherry Blossoms

I have made clay flowers and gifted them to many of my friends but somehow never made one for my parents. They are visiting soon and I thought to make a flower arrangement for them. This flower arrangement has roses and cherry blossoms. Following are the supplies required for this project :

- Air dry clay
- Floral Wire and Wire cutter
- Pollens
- Floral tape
- Pointed clay tool or a bamboo skewer or a toothpick (for cherry blossom)
- Acrylic or any water based paint (to color the clay)
- Scissors
- Flower vase
- Ribbons ( I used them to decorate my vase)

You can refer to my previous post on clay roses to get the details on how to make roses. Here are the step by step instructions to make cherry blossoms. The supplies needed for cherry blossoms are shown in the picture.


Take a ball of clay and add a tiny drop of pink color in the ball. Mix it thoroughly till the entire ball gets a uniform color. Now make a small ball of 3/4th inch in diameter and taper it at one end to get a tear drop shape. Using pointed scissors make a cut slightly away from the enter of the tear drop. Now slit the smaller section into two and the bigger one into three.


Now using the pointed clay tool / bamboo skewer spread out each petal as shown in the picture. Support the petal with your finger while spreading it out. It may take you multiple tries to get a neat petal but once you get the knack of it you will be surprised how easy it is.

Take a bunch of pollens and twist wire around them as shown is the picture. You may prepare multiple sets of pollens before hand so that when you are making flowers you save time and hence prevent clay from drying. If the clay still gets dry, you can add a drop of water it to prevent cracks.

Insert the wire with pollens at the center of the flower and pull it down. Make tiny notches at the tip of the petals ( you may skip this step) to finish of the flower.
Leave it to dry. Before adding them to the flower arrangement wrap floral tape around the flower stem. These flowers look very pretty and can be used standalone or in an arrangement with other flowers.


For the vase I used a small wicker basket and decorated with ribbon and pearl. I preferred the wicker basket as it would not break during travel when my parents take it back to India.I loved the final flower arrangement especially the cool spring like colors.

Hopefully you enjoyed this tutorial and will get inspired to make these flowers. Here is another picture of the finished arrangement.

Beautiful flower bouquet in fall colors

We have recently moved and it has been really difficult to find time for my craft projects. But it was my friend's birthday this weekend and I wanted to gift her something handmade. Its beautiful here these days with leaves changing colors and I got inspired to make something that brings these beautiful fall colors outdoors inside the home.

Following are the supplies you need for the project :
- Double crepe paper (Orange)
- Pollens ( Black)
- Floral Wire
- Floral tape (green)
- Wire Cutter
- Fall Bush ( I used purple. you can use any contrasting color)
- Leaves and other fillers
- Glue and Scissors
- Ribbon to finish the bouquet
- Cellophane paper or any transparent gift wrapping paper


Refer the picture above for step by step instructions. ( Click on the pic to get a better view) Take a bunch of pollens and attach them to the wire (stem) using floral tape. Cover the wire with floral tape too. Now cut 8 petals out of the orange double crepe paper (duple paper) for each flower. Refer the image for the petal shape. Stretch the petals to give them a concave shape. Arrange the petals in pairs. Then arrange them overlapping each other around the pollens attach them at the bottom using glue. You can make as many flowers as you want. More the merrier :).

Use the purple fall bushes as fillers and arrange the flowers as shown in the picture. Finish the bouquet by taping all the stems together using floral tape. Add the cellophane paper and a beautiful ribbon bow. You have a beautiful fall theme bouquet ready. Here is another picture of the finished bouquet.

Beautiful clay roses

I made these roses for a friend who had invited me for a ladies only tea party. Daddies took care of the kids while the ladies enjoyed a sunny afternoon and lots of gossip over tea and snacks.It was a lot of fun.

My original plan was to make the arrangement in a pretty tea cup ( to go with the theme of the party) but I couldn't manage to get one in time. So it ended up in a glass vase.

Supplies used to make the arrangement :
- Delight air dry clay
- Floral wire
- Floral tape
- Glass vase
- Green marbles
- Fillers ( fall bush)

To make the rose :

Make seven 1/2 inch dia. clay balls. Use your thumb to press them into the shape of the petal.You can refer the template in this post for the petal shape. Take another clay ball and shape it like a tear drop. Keeping the pointed side up, completely wrap one petal around the teardrop so that you can not see the teardrop. Take the second petal and start wrapping it overlapping the first petal half way through. Add the remaining petals in a similar way.

Make seven more clay balls little bigger than the previous ones and press them into petal shapes. Add these petals similarly, this time flaring the outer edges a little for a open rose look. Remove extra clay from the bottom. Let the flower dry for 24 hrs.

Take a floral wire and cover the tip with glue. Insert it into the flower after it is dry. The clay becomes lighter after it dries. The wire won't be able to take the load when the clay is wet. Wrap green floral tape around the wire to finish the flower.

Add a drop of green color to the clay and mix well. Make tear drop shapes and using scissors slit them halfway to get the filler bud. Insert wire at the bottom and let the buds dry. Take three buds together and wrap floral tape around the stems. I used almost 12 buds for this arrangement.

Arrange the flowers as in picture.Use fall bush or any other fillers you have to give the arrangement a fuller look.Fill the glass vase with marbles.

An adorable arrangement of roses is ready for you to enjoy.

Clay Peonies : A beautiful flower arrangement

Making flowers has always been my passion. This is the arrangement which I created recently to gift my dear hubby on his birthday. I have been making them with paper all along but this is my first serious attempt to make them in clay.




These are the materials I used to make the Peonies.
- Air dry clay(I have used Delight brand)
- Green Acrylic Paint, Wires 18#, Fall color Bush. Styrofoam
- Flower pot
- Glue and Scissors. 
All these are easily available at local craft stores and also online. Click on the material and it will take you to the resource.
Delight air dry clay comes in white color.To make Peonies I have used the clay as is. Make 5 circular balls around half inch diameter, roll them between your palms to make a tear drop. Now keeping the pointed end down using your thumb flatten each to make a petal like shape.
Using your thumb and finger make frills by pinching the petals on the outer edge. Arrange the petals in such a way that they overlap. Now make 10 circular balls about 1 inch diameter and make 10 petals in the same way. Arrange them again overlapping each other. The peony is ready. Make 3 such peonies.

Let them dry for 24 hours and then insert a wire with glue at the tip to make the stem. Make the light green fillers by adding a drop of green acrylic paint in the clay and make 1/4 inch tear drop balls. Bind with the floral tape to finish it.
Insert the Styrofoam in the pot and arrange the peonies and the fall bush.The flower arrangement is ready!

Here is the top view of the arrangement.My hubby loved his special gift   and I got compliments from my friends at the party too.