upcycling faux florals
- Marsden Brown
- Apr 3, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 23, 2024
Fake flowers are ubiquitous at thrift stores - dress them up a bit for a new, slightly more elegant lease on life!
Materials:
Faux flowers (many thrift stores sell cheap faux floral arrangements)
Ceramic dishes and/or pots (repurpose your old dishware or source from thrift stores)
Styrofoam or floral foam (we recommend saving & repurposing blocks of styrofoam from packaging)
Moss (if you don't live somewhere that has copious moss in the great outdoors, you can purchase bags of moss from many craft stores)
Hot glue gun
Elmers glue
Spray bottle
Rubbing alcohol or vodka (you just need a smidge to mix with the glue)
The before: A seasonal (and very glittery) Christmas arrangement
Getting Started:
Remove all floral elements from the existing arrangement that you would like to keep to repurpose - they usually can be removed from the floral foam with a little elbow grease, but wire cutters will come in handy if needed
Clean the empty dish or pot you will be "potting" your faux plant in
Measure the interior dimensions of your container
Cut your foam according to these measurements
Making Your New Floral Arrangement:
Using a hot glue gun, glue the foam to the inside of the dish
Use the wire stems of the faux flowers to poke holes in the desired location in the foam
Place a large dollop of hot glue in the hole and insert the stem, holding in place until the glue sets
The Finishing Touches:
Use the hot glue gun to adhere your decorative moss to the foam surface (this is easiest if you keep the moss in intact sheets if possible - if you lift it gently from rocks or logs, it will often come in one continuous mat)
Make your finishing glue: in the spray bottle, make a solution of approximately 1 part craft glue to 4 parts water and a splash of alcohol (this loosens the glue and makes it spray more smoothly), and shake well
Spray the solution thoroughly across moss surface to saturate - this will add a protective layer to preserve and increase the durability of the moss
The Final Product:
Our Note: Cut flowers have a hugely detrimental environmental impact (source). the majority of the cut flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from Colombia and Ecuador, with others coming from as far away as Kenya and Sri Lanka. In addition to being high water-use crops, fresh cut flowers require refrigeration, air transport, and long-haul truck transport in order to arrive at their final destination - all of which carries an enormous carbon footprint. Furthermore, most flower farms use toxic fertilizers and other chemicals that are hazardous to the health of the farm workers as well as damaging to the local ecosystem.
Enter this craft: it would make a great gift in lieu of cut flowers, and it'll last longer! It can also be made for less than the cost of a full bouquet if you budget well at the thrift store. A win-win-win :)
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