Floral Letter DIY | Craft | francescasophia.co.uk

Floral Letter DIY | Craft

June 23, 2015 in DIY, lifestyle

a floral letter 'f' sits on a white sheet, with a branch of silk flowers just beneath it

Flowers are my favourite thing about the warmer months; nothing beats having a fresh arrangement sitting on your nightstand, or the gorgeous floral notes that greet you as you open your front door.

Having said that, spring/summer never seem to last long here in London, and the first chill of autumn tends to move in pretty quickly, taking all the fresh flora with it.

Luckily for those of us who can’t quite beat the post-bloom blues, though, artificial flowers are making one heck of a comeback, at the moment, and the options are ever-growing. Whilst they’ll never have that smell, they are a lot more versatile than their natural counterparts; which means those of thus who have the crafting bug (read: addiction) can have a floral fix in our decor, no matter the weather.

I spotted these wooden letters on a trip to Hobbycraft a few weeks ago, and knew it would be the perfect home for some artificial blooms, but you could just as easily use an empty shoebox or old container if you wanted to.

The other supplies you’ll need are tissue paper and PVA glue to cover the outside (I used Decopatch papers and Matte Mod Podge, because I already had some going spare, but generic brands will work just as well), and some artificial flowers and dry oasis to fill the shape. (I got my dry oasis here and usually get my artificial flowers at a local market or from Hobbycraft).

torn strips of navy, pink, and white Decopatch craft paper, sitting next to each other on a white sheet

a wooden letter 'f' sits next to torn strips of navy, white, and pink, floral tissue paper, and a brush with an open pot of mod podge; the wooden letter is in the process of being covered

The first step is covering whichever shape you’re filling, although you could always paint it or leave it plain. If you are using tissue, like I did, though, you’ll want to start by tearing each piece into rectangles about an inch wide. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to embrace your inner wannabe ‘Art Attack’ presenter, and coat the whole thing in glue before applying the strips of tissue however you’d like onto the outside of your shape. Just remember to coat the whole thing in glue to finish it, when you’re done.

a wooden letter 'f' sits next to a fresh block of floral foam, and a wooden book full of craft knives and attachments

a wooden letter 'f' sits next to a fresh block of floral foam indented with the imprint of the letter 'f' from the wooden letter, and a wooden book full of craft knives and attachments

Once you’ve covered the shape, and it’s completely dry, it’s time for the fun (and messy!) bit – filling it in! The easiest way to do this for an abstract shape, like mine, is to press the shape into the block of dry oasis, as far down as it’ll go, and use this as a template; then, all you have to do is use a craft knife to cut out chunks of the oasis to fit your shape!

a wooden letter 'f' in the process of being filled with dry floral foam, with chunks of the dry foam resting in the wooden letter

the wooden letter 'f' filled with dry floral foam, and in the process of being filled with artificial flowers

Make sure you pack your oasis nice and tightly into your shape, so it doesn’t go anywhere – as long as there are no huge gaps, you won’t need any glue to hold it in place. Once it’s all in there, it’s time to get creative with your flowers: I opted to buy hydrangeas and azaleas, as there tend to be more small blooms on each stem, but this is obviously completely up to you, and if you’re buying online, don’t forget to check whether the stems are wire or not – I have wire cutters at home, but trying to separate blooms from their wire stems without these would not be a pleasant experience!

a wooden letter 'f' filled with white, pink, and coral artificial flowers, laying on a white sheet, and surrounded by leftover artificial flowers

As far as arranging the blooms, I recommend just picking a colour scheme, snipping a bunch of individual flowers, and going for trial and error – the great thing about the dry oasis is that you can take the flowers out and move them around as much as you need to, so just keep playing around until you get something you like!