Mini Window Box and Stone Rose Planters

I am finished making mini flowers; woohoo! 

Miniature window box full of flowers

I found the tutorial for the morning glories (blue hanging flowers) at About.com, here.

I made the flowers using my mini circle hole punch, and drew a five armed star shape with a white gel pen. This was similar to the Petunias, except they had 8 lines instead of 5. 

I used the heart shaped punch for the leaves.  Both the flowers and leaves were made from coffee filters that had been painted a few weeks ago, and all were shaped using a ball tipped embossing tool.  The hanging portion of the flowers are glued on to thread.  Yes, I glued flowers on to thread.  It was VERY fiddly and maddening but it was actually easier than gluing the flowers on to the wire.  I did the upright portions on wire, and bent them over. I like Alene's quick dry tacky glue for this.

The other flowers were made using my big border punch that punches out various flower shapes.  I used markers for the centers of some, and for others I painted the end of a wire yellow and pushed it right through the flower.  This worked better than gluing them to the ends of the wire; when I did that, the flowers kept straightening out on me.

Morning glories in progress

I really love the way the morning glories came out.  Blue flowers are my absolute favorite.

Mini long stem roses in stone planters

My rose planters are finished too.  I added some moss for greenery because I felt it needed something.  I love the roses but they'd be better in a vase than in the planters.  The white roses are my favorite; they were all made from coffee filters, but the white were unpainted.  I used acrylics for the red and yellow.  Next time I'm going to try water colors instead.

I enjoyed making the flowers and my Bake Shop Patio is looking so colorful.  I already glued all of these flower boxes into place, and I added some advertising and signage.  I just have to make some chair cushions and I'll be done.  I made one but it looks weird so I have to look at a few tutorials on how to do the corners.  I also suck at wrapping gifts when it comes to corners, lol. 
I added some craft sticks along the patio and roof to give it a more finished look and I'm happy with it.  I think I'm putting off doing the second chair cushion because then I'll be done, and I hate the thought of being done; I had so much fun with this project.

Mini Roses

I read and watched what seems like zillions of tutorials about making mini flowers and plants, but in the end, was rescued by my new mini friend Alicia, who sent me me two tutorials on how to make roses.

Mini paper roses

Here is my first attempt.  First I painted some coffee filters with various shades of pink and white.  Then I used my mini heart paper punch to punch out loads of tiny hearts.  I cut some thin wire and glued on little bits of gold embroidery floss to the tip of the wire.

I didn't take photos as I worked, but in the photo above you can see the embroidery floss before I trimmed it down.

Mini Roses

 The first few hearts were very difficult to glue onto the wire because they had to be folded around the embroidery floss.  I added two petals at a time and then let the glue dry.  I used Alene's quick drying glue and it worked great.  It was a lot easier to add more petals once the first few petals were on.

Mini Roses

 I couldn't find a leaf paper punch locally so I ordered some online but they haven't been shipped yet so I tried to make leaves on my own and am not happy with them, so the roses don't have extra stems just for leaves. 

Mini Roses in faux stone planters

I'm happy with the rose blossoms.  I pulled some back with tweezers for fuller roses, and left some wound tightly.

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to make more roses for the planters or not.  I prepared some yellow filter paper, and can use it plain for white roses.  Maybe I'll add a few in other colors, and then try to make some greenery. The roses are just stuck into sponges for now; I have to pick up some styrofoam at the dollar store.

Mini Roses

Sadie is happy with the roses and think they will look nice on her patio. She wants some little trailing plants to hang over the sides of the planters too. Maybe I can use moss for the greenery?