Homemade Carnations

I absolutely love fresh flowers but sometimes they aren't practical. (with the slimey water and falling off leaves...) I came across a blog called Nuestra Vida Dulce where the blogger, Joi made some incredible looking carnations out of tissue paper. Joi is a school Spanish teacher but it is her decorating style which is getting her noticed! From many appearances on her local morning show to national t.v. (Nate Berkus--Hello!) to an invitation as a presenter for a Goodwill Conference and magazine photo shoots. This girl is going places!


Okay, on to the crafting! These are the supplies needed for the fabulous carnations.

You'll also need a florist ball in a size that fits the container you'll be using. (The picture is upside down--I hate it when that happens!)

I found these two at St. Vincent DePaul for 50 cents each. I spray painted them white.

Trace around a glass to make a circle on the tissue paper. The paper usually comes in a stack of 8-9 sheets so make sure you cut through all the layers. (You'll need that many layers for each flower.)

Cut a circle out and poke 2 holes in the center with the safety pin.

Cut about 3 inches of floral wire, bend it in half and poke through the 2 holes so it looks like a stem. I used a very thin wire at first and it was quite frustrating because it kept ripping through. I switched to 22 gauge floral wire and it worked well. (Also making sure the holes weren't too close together helped.)

Then start lightly crumpling up each layer starting in the center.

When you're finished you may need to "fluff" the tissue paper back open a bit until it looks how you want. As you get more practiced you may notice the blooms getting smaller/tighter in size. In my first attempt I didn't really like how the flowers looked. I thought they were too loose and looked like crumpled tissue paper. By the fourth one the blooms were really tight and small. (I wasn't really paying attention--surprise!) So if you pay attention you can get the size you want.

Trim the wire if needed and push into the floral ball around the edge of the container.

Here are the two finished containers. (Can you tell the difference in size of the flowers?)

I tried going two-tone.

Here are all the bouquets I made. Thanks, Joi for the great idea!

I have them on the piano for now. I should teach a class: What NOT To Do When Styling Photos 101. Do you see me trying to hide in the mirror behind the flowers while I take the picture? There is also the lovely lamp cord--it adds so much to the picture, don't you think? The best part is the dated gold toned chandelier in the background--it's on my hit list...