DIY Flowers and Topiary Ball

Spring is coming! Soon flower buds will be all around. I love this flower topiary ball made with three different types of DIY flowers. You can use any color scheme you like. This white, cream, and blush color scheme is perfect for a classy look, and great for a wedding, bridal or baby shower decoration too. Or you can choose bright, fun colors for spring and Easter decor. Learning how to make these flowers would also be great for any number of projects.

The Supplies:

• 1/8 yard each of a variety of satin-like polyester fabrics
• fabric scissors
• matches (candle or lighter would work as well)
• glue gun
• pearl beads

The Instructions:

For the first type of flower, start by cutting circles. You will need 3 or 4 per flower, layered largest to smallest. You do not want the circles to be perfectly round either. Off-shaped circles will make more natural-looking flowers.

If using matches as your heat source, prep your work space by folding a paper towel and getting it wet. This will provide a safe spot for you to set the matches after they have been used. Remember to open some windows and keep your craft space well-ventilated.

It was difficult to get an in-action picture, since I needed two hands to complete this step, but it is not difficult to do. Hold a fabric circle in one hand and light a match and hold it in the other. Hold the flame near the edge of the fabric. As you can see in the picture above, just like plastic, the polyester will curl from the heat. Repeat for each circle.

Once the edges are all curled, layer the flowers how you like them. Then, heat the glue gun and add a dot of glue between each layer to hold it all together. Add 1,3, or 5 pearls to finish the look for each flower.

The next type of flower uses a fold method. Cut a long strip of fabric; the longer it is the larger the flower will be. It should be about 1 1/2 inches wide. Fold one of the ends in half and tie a knot near the end. Glue the knot down in the middle of a small fabric circle. Fold the fabric in half as you go, making sure the shiny side is on the outside. Fold the folded strip outward as you go. Secure each fold with a dot of hot glue. The corner of each fold will look like a petal in the flower. In pictures 4 and 5 above, you can see the back side of the flower when it is almost done. The strip in picture 4 is folded to the right and secured in picture 5. Continue until you run out of fabric.

The third flower-making method is similar to the fold method. It is started the same way, with a long strip and a knot glued to the center of a fabric circle. Rather than folding the strip to make petals, this time you are going to twist the fabric strip fairly tight as you work with it. This makes the flower look more like a bud, rather than a blooming, open flower. This is probably the easiest method; it’s hard to do it wrong. Twist and glue, then repeat.

Once you have a variety of flowers made, you can start gluing them to the foam ball. I recommend starting to glue and place the flowers before every single flower is made. It is good to see what styles, size, and colors are needed as you go. I covered approximately 1/3 of the ball, then looked to see what would go best next to this flower or that flower, and continued making them one by one to get the exact size, style and color I wanted for each spot.

I love how it all came together! It has a sort of vintage look with this color scheme. I can’t wait to make one with all yellow flowers for Easter decor. I set my completed ball on a glass candle stick to make it look like a topiary. It could also be hung with a ribbon, or set on a shelf or table top as is. Have fun making your own!

Happy (almost) Spring!