Try your hand at the beautiful art of beaded flowers to create a darling tabletop topiary.
Materials
Glass seed beads, purple, 18 grams
Glass seed beads, yellow, 2 grams
Gold beading wire, 28 gauge, 6½ yds.
Floral stem, 5” long
Mini mushroom craft bird, red, 1¼” across, 1
Satin ribbon, ¼” wide, emerald green, 26”
Mini terra cotta pot, 1½” tall, 2” radius, 1
Natural floral moss, 2 square inches
Floral sticky clay block, 2 oz.
Tools & Supplies
Wire snips
Scissors
Ruler
Steps
1. Cut an 18” length of gold beading wire. To create the stamen, slide 7 yellow seed beads almost to the end of the wire, leaving a 2” tail. Bend the wire tail back over 3 beads, then feed it through the remaining 4 beads. Pull the wire tight forcing the 3 beads on the end into a little cluster. Bend the tail 90-degrees away from the rest of the wire.
2. String 1” of the purple seed beads (about 20 beads) onto the long end of the wire. Push the beads to the end of the wire up against the stamen. Bend the purple beaded wire section into a petal shape and wrap the end of the wire around the base of the stamen above the tail once. Repeat to form 5 petals total.
3. After forming the 5th petal, feed the end of the wire down between two of the petals to make a stem. Wrap the short wire tail leftover from the stamen around the stem.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 to make 13 beaded flowers total. Gather all the flowers together and arrange them into a rounded bouquet. Then wrap the wire stems around the floral stem.
5. Cut a 12” length of green ribbon and wrap the stem from top to bottom. Secure the bottom end of the ribbon by wrapping it with a small piece of wire. Cut two 7” lengths of green ribbon and tie each one around the top of the stem, leaving 3” dangling ribbon ends.
6. Pinch a piece of floral sticky clay off the block and stick it to the bottom of the craft bird. Pack the rest of the floral clay into the mini terra cotta pot. Stick the ribbon-wrapped stem down into the center of the clay. (It helps to “pre-drill” this hole by poking the clay with a chopstick or extra piece of floral stem first.)
7. Arrange the moss around the stem in the pot and press it down into the clay. Stick the craft bird onto the moss.
Super-Size It: To make the same beaded topiary larger, swap out the seed beads for “E” beads and use a 3” pot. And don’t forget to super-size your craft bird, too!
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