contests

DIY Floating Paper Flower Wreaths

Apr 4

Last month I worked on a really fun project for a Green Wedding Shoes + West Elm collaboration – I was one of four contributors that were given the challenge of coming up with a DIY wedding project using West Elm’s Spring collection of paper flowers. All of the contributors definitely met the challenge head on and came up with some really great projects! If you haven’t seen them yet, they are all definitely pin-worthy…. and while you are over there enter West Elm’s giveaway for a dozen of paper flowers plus the vessel of your choice!

I came up with a lot of different ideas for the paper flowers (there are so many ways to use them!), but decided to weave the stems together to create rose wreaths that appeared to float around vases. I thought it would be fun for you to see the brainstorming sketch that I put together next to the end result - I love when my vision comes to life the way I imagine it!

By the way, all of the gorgeous photos are courtesy of Dana Grant Photography. Dana is not only an insanely talented photographer (she photographed my wedding five years ago!), she is a fabulous person with a beautiful outlook on life. Follow her on Facebook and after a few posts you will see why she is so beloved!

The roses were so easy to work with and I was even able to re-use the twine from the packaging that the roses arrived in to hold the flowers in place! West Elm put together a post with tips, some of the other ways I used the roses, and details on how to ‘shop this look’ that you can read about here. And for details on how to construct the wreaths… keep reading on my lovelies!

Materials:

Makes 1 floating wreath
1 bunch of West Elm’s paper roses (12 roses are in a bunch)
String or twine (save the twine from the packaging and re-use it!)
Gold pen, optional

Step One: Create the wreaths

I wanted to bring in more gold accents, so I added detail to the leaves of the roses before crafting the wreaths. To create the same effect, use a gold pen (mine was a Krylon 18KT Gold Leafing Pen) to draw a line down the center of each leaf and several lines on both sides of it. Repeat for each leaf.

To make the wreath, bend the stem of a rose to form a half-circle and repeat for a second rose. Place them together to form a full circle, allowing their stems to overlap at least half an inch. Bend the flower potion of the stem 90 degrees so it faces out from the circle. Use the twine that you placed aside from the packaging to lash the stems together where they overlap. Repeat these steps to create at least two more wreaths.

Step Two: create the stands

Next you are going to create the legs for the wreaths so that your roses can ‘float’ above the table. I created two different types of stands – one with five straight legs and one with two ‘X’-shaped legs. To create the ‘X’-shaped legs, space four roses equal distance from each other along the inside edge of one wreath, lashing each in place with twine approximately two inches below the base of each flower. To create the straight-legged stand, add one or two more roses for support and leave them standing straight.

Step Three: Add more Roses!

Now that you have the base stand created you can add more roses to it. Place the second wreath a couple of inches below the first and lash into place (or place it right up against the first one if you want your rose grouped more tightly). Repeat for the third wreath. To finish the stand, pull two of the rose stems together and cross them to form an ‘X’ and lash them with twine to hold the shape. Repeat with the other two rose stems. The rose portions that belong the legs should be standing straight up from the top wreath – bend them down so they are in line with the other roses. Bend the leafs of all of the roses so the gold lines face outward and so that a few gently curve away from the wreath, following the shape of your vase.

TIP: If you would like your floating rose wreath to look more full, you can easily add more roses by weaving them into the other stems.

If you like these wreaths, don’t forget to check out the other ways I used the paper roses over on West Elm’s blog!

Photo credits: Dana Grant Photography

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this post, but all of the materials pictured were items that I chose and that were provided courtesy of West Elm.

4 Comments | Filed Under: contests, handspun DIY

Spring has sprung… A Giveaway!

Apr 27

The lovely ladies of Utterly Engaged Magazine are giving away our “Pick a Pair of Speckled Feathers” collection!

Sashay your pretty little self over to their blog and leave a comment to enter! And you don’t have to be a bride to win… in celebration of our “Painted Little Finds” feature in this month’s Utterly Engaged Magazine {look on page 18!}, we will customize our printables any way the winner desires! That means these pretties can make their debut at your next birthday party, bridal shower, or any other event you would like.

One lucky winner will be announced on Monday April 30th and will win a set of printables from our “Pick a Pair of Speckled Feathers” collection: Invitation, RSVP, Patterned Paper, Name Card, Thank You Card… and we are throwing in a yard of organic cotton knit fabric that matches the patterned paper!

Leave a comment here to enter, and be sure to earn an 3 extra entries by leaving additional comments if you follow One Handspun Day on Facebook or Twitter or if you tweet about this giveaway!

What would you do with your printables if you won?

1 Comment | Filed Under: contests

Enter our “Pin to Win” Contest!!

Jan 16

We are over the moon with excitement because we finally get to share to the details of our “Pin to Win” contest! This is our first contest and since we are self-confessed ‘pinaholics’ (and we know many of you are as well!) we thought it would be SO fun to marry the two. We hope you will join in the fun and pin with us ~ we cannot wait to see the prettiness you come up with!

>> What the creator of the winning board will receive:

The winner will receive $200 in credit to One Handspun Day!!! That’s enough to purchase most of the goodies in one of our collections! If you are a bride, that means you can put the dollars you would have spent on invitations towards that perfect pair of shoes you found. If you are throwing a party or shower then you can splurge on champagne & raspberries. How fab would that be?!

AND there’s a chance you can triple your chances of winning! If we reach at least 500 Facebook fans by the contest deadline (January 31, 2012), then we will choose 3 winners instead of just 1! It will be easy to get us there if you just share our Facebook page with at least one friend that likes crafty, creative prettiness or a friend that is planning a wedding or event. Easy peasy!

>> How to enter the “Pin to Win” contest:

Step 0: Sign up for a Pinterest account if you don’t already have one. Pinterest is an invite only visual bookmarking website, but do not fret! We would love to send you an invitation to join – just leave your email address in the comments below or send us an email. If you need a quick tutorial on Pinterest and how it works, then everything you need to know is here (you’ll be a pinning pro after you’ve read this!).

Step 1: Create a new board. Your new board can fall under any category you want (wedding & events, art, fashion, DIY, etc), but make sure you include “One Handspun Day – Pin to Win” as part of your title.

Step 2: Pin, Pin & Repin! Pin at least one product from the One Handspun Day shop using your ‘Pin It’ browser bookmarklet or simply repin one of the products from our One Handspun Day Printable Pretties board.

Step 3: Submit Your Board. When you are ready to submit your board then post a link to it on the wall of our Facebook page. It doesn’t get easier than that!