(Note – If you’re new to my page, this is how it works: At the beginning of each week I randomly draw a new project from my Challenge Bucket, then see what I can create before the week is over. You can read all about my Creativity Challenge here.)
It’s always fun to find out what my next challenge will be. My imagination is immediately ignited and it begins the exploration of direction and possibilities. I look forward to this part of each week’s Creativity Challenge! So what did I pull out of the Challenge Bucket this week? It was just one word: “Flower.”
I have to admit I didn’t even remember writing that one down, so I was surprised to read it. And a bit perplexed. “What did I mean by flower?”
And then it started to come back to me. No need to over complicate things – the challenge was simply to create a flower. It could be made out of anything I wanted. Unlike past creativity challenges, this one wasn’t telling me what to USE to create, it was telling me WHAT to create, and I could use anything I wanted.
This actually came at a perfect time. You see, last week when I was looking for ideas for the Fridge Magnet challenge, I came across a technique I’d never seen before. Flowers were being made out of recyclable water bottles with just scissors, a lighter and a glue gun! And they were so pretty! Watching the various makers in the clips, I was mesmerized! I knew I wanted to try this method out, and this week was the perfect time to do it.
The first task was to find a suitable water bottle. I dug through the recycling and found two options: the first was the typical blue water bottles that come in big packs at the grocery store, and the second was a clear Pepsi bottle. It was nice to have options, however neither were ideal. The blue bottle had too many ridges in it, while the clear bottle was…well… clear! I believed the flower would look so much prettier in blue, so I settled on the blue bottle and decided I’d deal with the ridges the best that I could.
I cut the bottle into sections that I could use to cut out petals. Realizing I would need a template to follow, I grabbed some cardboard and sketched out two sizes of petals. Using the templates I cut out 10 petals: 6 large and 4 small.
Then it was time for the wild side of this project. Time to light it up! Retrieving a lighter, I held up a plastic petal and very cautiously began to move the flame in and out around it. This part had to be quick as the plastic reacted very rapidly to the heat! The flame would cause the edges of the petals to tighten and turn , adding a wonderful effect. The little plastic pieces were being transformed into flower petals!
Once the petals were complete, I just needed to create the center stamen before I could begin assembling the flower.
Grabbing the top piece from the water bottle, I cut out a long rectangular shape, then added a dozen or so little cuts along the side for the stamen. Time to light it up again! I sparked the lighter and noticed… a dying flame. It was running out of fuel and the flame didn’t appear to be having as much effect on the plastic.
I was happy to find another lighter in the drawer – new and still in the package. When I sparked it up, though, I was not prepared for the much-larger flame produced by the brand new lighter. Next thing I knew, my little flower stamen was on fire! I quickly blew it out and as I did, all those little petals in the background went flying! It was quite comical, and I chuckled as I quickly gathered up the blown petals and examined the extinguished stamen. While a little blackened, thankfully the fire hadn’t ruined it and I could finish up the job – more cautiously!
I worked with the little piece of plastic for a few more moments, and once satisfied, I carefully rolled the piece up to produce the flower center. It was looking great and I realized that the blackened part could actually enhance the look of this flower.
I now had all the pieces made which meant it was time to assemble the flower! Glue gun hot, I attached the stamen to a piece of wire then began to glue the petals around it. (The top of the water bottle worked wonderfully to hold the “stem” while I was attaching pieces!)
It didn’t take long and I had all the petals attached (well, 9/10 of them anyway – there wasn’t room for them all!) It was looking really pretty!
I decided the stem needed a leaf, so I bent the wire into a leaf shape then found a little creamer pitcher to “plant” the flower in. Then all it needed was a special place to shine.
This was a quick and fun craft! I’d love to try the project again with the clear, flat plastic bottle to see how the look of the petals would change. Other colors would be fun to try too!
And that’s a wrap! Thanks for joining my craft adventure this week!
I love this one! (I love them all actually 😀). These flowers are so delicate looking. Well done!
Thanks! While I was making it I thought of you and wondered if it would be a good camp craft for the teens. But then again, could/should we bring fire into the situation? lol