Our merchandiser Emily Thibodeaux made lifelike replicas of Southern Magnolia flowers for our spring shop window display. We thought we'd share her step by step process so anyone could enjoy these recycled blooms year-round.
Magnolia Assembly Flipagram from Laura Doré on Vimeo.
Materials:
-stiff white cloth or paper (we used up-cycled rice bags!)
-green fabric or paper for leaves (we used our olive waxed canvas scraps)
-hot glue gun
-light colored marker
-scissors
Start by gathering your materials and making your patterns. We started our petal pattern by drawing a triangle and then drawing a line from each corner to the center. Around those lines we sketched a very rough petal shape - we wanted each petal to be slightly different so it looks more organic.
Cut all of your pieces: we cut 3 layers of the petal from up-cycled rice bags, 1 small circle - any fabric will do for this piece but we chose the green to match the leaves, 2-3 leaves, and 1 strip of white cloth that measures approximately 8" x 1.25".
Next we added a drop of hot glue to the base of each petal and very slightly pinched it to give the flower some dimension. A little pinch will go a long way for this!
Start layering your petals to the small circle. We used the end of a marker to press down on the center of each layer to make sure they nestle inside each other and leave a little crater in the center for the next layer to be added.
Next we made the stamen for the center of our magnolia. We took the 8" x 1.25" strip of up-cycled sailcloth and fringed it. Then we rolled the strip using hot glue along the way to make sure it stays intact. We slowly rotated the stamen and using our scissors cut at an angle until we achieved a cone shape. At this point you could add some color and apply a thin layer of pale yellow. Glue this piece to the center of your flower - it should fit nicely inside the crater created by all the petals.
Lastly, add a few leaves to the base of your flower and voila!
Stop by our shop to see the magnolias on display nestled in our recycled canvas spanish moss!
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