This Victorian Flower Pin (or "Floral Brooch" to be classy) is an
Easter
craft you'll love. Dust off those silk flowers in the closet - and get
yourself some glass marbles. Oh, and a safety pin for the back. That's
about
all you need!
We were going to make just one of these - but they are
so easy we ended up with five. The silk flowers you want are the
chrysanthemum or daisy variety, with layers of petals cinched with a
plastic center and stem. We chose some spring-like colors, and even did
a little mixing and matching of petal layers.
The glass marbles are the flat kind, about 1 1/4"
in diameter. You can find them at craft or floral-supply
stores.
The
inspiration for this flower pin is the whimsical Victorian illustration
known as "flower faces." Fantasy illustrations brought all kinds of
things to life, from fairies and gnomes to household articles, and
flowers with female faces were very popular on postcard greetings.
In the FREE Vintage Image Download, we give you nine (!) lovely women
to choose from! We gleaned these fashionable faces from vintage
postcards, sheet music, produce labels, and photographs. As they say in
the song, "Faced with
these Loreleis, what man can moralize?"
Silk flowers, chrysanthemum or daisy with
multiple layers of petals, about 3" diameter.
Heavyweight felt for the back.
Safety pin, about 1" - 1 1/2".
Tacky craft glue, like Aleen's, or other
clear-drying glue (see Tips).
Small paint brush for spreading glue.
Scissors.
Instructions
Print
the vintage images on matte photo paper or premium presentation paper.
Let the images dry for a half hour.
Pull
the silk flower head off of the stem, remove the central stamen, and
separate
the layers of petals. We used three layers of petals for each flower
pin, but you may choose to use more or less depending on the nature of
your flower.
Place
the glass marble over the face on the printed vintage image
sheet. Trace around it with pencil. Cut it out with scissors, cutting
within the traced line.
Cover
the flat back of the glass marble with glue. Place the cut-out image,
face down, onto the glue. Press gently to squeeze out any air bubbles
or pockets, and wipe off any excess glue with a damp tissue. Let it dry for
about an hour. You may still see some cloudiness on the image, but that
should disappear when the glue is fully cured.
Glue
the stacked layers of flower petals together in the center. Glue the paper side
of the glass marble in the center of the top layer. Press your flower pin under a book
for about an hour. (You may want to do this on a piece of waxed paper so you don't glue it to the table).
Cut
out a 1 1/4" circle of felt for the back. Lay the safety pin across the
center and mark the end points of the back length of the pin. Cut two
small slits from the edge of the felt in to each mark. Slip the felt circle into
the pin so that the pin emerges from the slits, the back of the pin is covered and
the pin is functional (See Tips). Now, glue the felt circle and pin to the back of the flower. Press it under a book until it dries.
All done! This is great as a brooch, but equally nice pinned on your Easter bonnet, purse or scarf (see Tips).
Tips
We
actually used two types of glue for these flower pins. To glue the
image to the back of the marble, we used Jewel Glue by Delta. It is a
clear-drying white glue for attaching jewels and beads to fabric. It
worked well, but regular craft glue would serve the purpose. Our one
warning - if the glue is too wet it may make the ink in the inkjet
printout run, so don't dilute it. To glue everything else together, we
use Aleen's Tacky Glue.
Despite all your careful efforts, some glue
WILL get on the face of your marble. If you can wipe it off with a wet
tissue before it dries, all the better. If you find it after it dries,
scrub it off with a kitchen scouring sponge.
We
like the safety pin on the back, but you may prefer to glue a real
pin-back on your flower brooch. We tried the self-adhesive ones, but
they didn't hold to the silk flower very well. You may think of a
better way.
Now
that you have the knack, why stop with spring? Silk poinsettias can
surround childrens' faces or Santa. Green petals around an Irish
colleen. Autumn chrysanthemums with witches or black cat faces. Red,
white and blue around Uncle Sam!