Ya know what makes me crazy?
Finding a perfectly good pack of wipes totally dried out and worthless. Anyone else hate throwing that money away? (Edited to add: Yes, I realize you can just add water, but it’s still frustrating.)
Well good news.
It’s Spring now and those dried out ghosts of diapers past just happen to make a mean gerber daisy.
Seriously.
I’ve been wanting to make some white felt flowers to brighten up my enough-of-the-red-already upstairs, but as it turns out, I was almost out of white felt. So when I found yet another dried out pack of baby wipes, I decided to give Huggies with Aloe a whirl.
Toss in some burlap scraps, a coat hanger and a quick repurposed vase and voila!
Soft, natural colored flowers perfect for that dark living room …
… and a bright punch of color for my new office …
all made from stuff I was going to toss anyway!
Want to make your own?
You’ll need:
As always, I hope you Rock What Ya Got and adapt this project to use what you have on hand.
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And 3 quick disclaimers right now: 1) I had to reshoot a few pictures at night so sorry for those, 2) yes, I really need to repaint my nails, and 3) because of the whole “re-shoot” thing, there are samples with natural and orange burlap that interchange. Sorry for that. Obviously you’ll use same burlap color for the center, back and label.
Open up a metal hanger, straighten out and cut stems. Mine measured 16, 17.25 and 19 inches.
Bend the top 1/4” of each stem 90 degrees and set aside.
On a dried baby wipe or piece of felt, trace and cut out a 5” and 2” circle. (The cheap-o wipes won’t work well; you need the thick “good” kind).
Cut 4 of each size per flower.
To shape the large petals, fold each 5” circle into eighths …
… cut down the middle, stopping a 1/2” before the bottom …
… and round each petal so that your circle looks like the one above.
Layer the petals, off-setting slightly …
… and poke a small hole in the middle with scissors.
Glue each of the layers together with a ring of hot glue around the center hole.
To form the center, take all four layers together and cut closely-spaced slits around the edge about 1/2” deep …
… and ruff up the edges with your fingers to create texture. Poke a small hole in the center and glue each layer together with a ring of hot glue.
Then glue both circles together.
Slide the stem through the hole and glue in place with a generous blob of glue.
Don’t worry if the flower seems pretty floppy at this point.
To finish, cut a small circle 1.5” wide and thread stem through the center, gluing to the bottom side of the flower.
Your flower should be rock solid now.
To make the center, cut a 1/2” x 6” strip of burlap and twist to make a small rosette–trimming as necessary—and hot glue in place.
(Rosette tutorial HERE)
Congratulations: flowers are done. Onto the vase.
Cut a 4” x 11” scrap of burlap and attach to bottle with hot glue.
I created labels in Microsoft Word using a vintage label from Graphics Fairy for my neutral flowers and the free knock off Coca-Cola font, Loki Cola for my bright flowers.
To transfer the design to fabric I cut a rectangle scrap from an old dress shirt, ironed it to a piece of freezer paper, trimmed it down to 8.5” x11” …
… and then ran it through my printer.
(Detailed freezer paper tutorial HERE)
I used a rotary cutter to trim each label to 3” x 11” and then attached it overtop of the burlap and glued it in place with hot glue along the back seem.
Quick, easy, done.
A soft, feminine label for the neutral colored flowers for the living room …
… and a bright, soda-shop inspired label for the orange flowers in my office.
Love ‘em both.
Two fun options with the same design.
So whether you like classy …
… or splashy …
Have fun cutting up those baby wipes!
Linking up to:
24 Comments
I am in LOVE with these daisies. They looked real when I first looked at them. seriously LOVE this!!!
I had to feature you on my blog its http://hobbied.blogspot.com
Incredible what you can do with baby wipes 🙂
GREAT idea!!! I just found a stack of dried out wipes as I was cleaning out one of our bathrooms! SCORE!!!A new craft in the making thanks to YOU!
Nike, you not only rock what ya got, but you rock. What an amazing idea, so beautifully executed. I've missed your posts these last few weeks! I've been having fun making hair flowers for my girls the past couple of months (I know I'm way late to that party, but I still like them), and these would be darling! Thanks again.
You never cease to amaze me Nike! I love this idea!!!
terriffic idea! tip for dried out wipes – merely pour water over 'em & let soak & they're like new! 🙂
Very cute and creative! I would have never thought to use dried out wipes. Thanks for sharing!
Love them! But you don't have to trow out dry baby towels. Just pour a little water in the packet and you can use them again.
I have everything but the burlap… We use baby wipes all the time when we hike and such in the RV world and a lot of time we put baby wipes in a plastic baggy and after time they dry up and yes you can add water but I like this whole lot better – and the funny thing is we re-did the inside of our RV and though about getting fake flowers and now because of you we are going to use this project… OMG thank you sooooo very much. My favorite flower too!!
Ah-MAZE-ING!!!!!! You're AWESOME, so glad that I subscribed!! 🙂
Another darling idea! I'm always curious to see what you will come up with next! Maybe some sandals made from old tires? LOL!
Paulette
Oh my goodness…my brain is on creative overload after seeing this post. SO. MANY. IDEAS. can come from this! Thank you so much for doing a tutorial too and hey…I did just find a dry box of wipes…not as annoying now that I know I can upcycle them.
Great job and great photos of your finished flowers.
This is GRREAT. Your photos are great and I am inspired. ~
So much wonderful sweet detail. Great tutorial. Love this project. winks- jen
What a great tutorial!
Would love to see you share it at my link party!
http://allthingsfee.blogspot.com/2011/04/calling-all-crafters-2nd-edition.html
Great idea, the last couple of wipes are always too dry to do much good right at the second you need them…
these are SOOO adorable. and great idea with the dried baby-wipes!! never thought they could be used for anything else. thanks for sharing! 🙂
I'd love for you to link this up to my link party, Your Whims Wednesday! http://mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/2011/04/your-whims-wednesday-2-and-features.html
Nike-
I will never be mad about my 1 year old tossing all the wipes around to dry and die.
You are so resourceful…
I'd be oh so happy if you could share this with my readers @Creative Juice Thursday. Get your crafting shoes on… Hope to see you there…
Wipes and burlap! What a great combination! Love these!
Wow! Those flowers are gorgeous – and upcycled {gasp} make them even more awesome! Thanks so much for sharing your uber creativity!!
I featured this today on my blog! Come grab a button if you would like 🙂 http://mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/2011/04/your-whims-wednesday-3-and-features.html
Thanks for stopping by Creative Juice, Nike!
These are so pretty. Great DIY
Amazing stock. I liked them all and their shades as well.
florist