Spray Painted Necklace and Tulle Flowers Tutorial

I have been wanting a navy blue necklace for a while now, but just have not found exactly what I was looking for . . .

Then I saw this little number in the clearance section of Wal-Mart. I think it was $2 . . . I liked the length and I liked the wood beads, but I wasn't crazy about the color. The wheels in my head started turning . . . I busted out my navy blue spray paint and went to work! I sprayed both sides of the necklace, making sure each bead was covered. I did 3 coats on each side.

While the necklace was drying, I went to work on my flowers. I knew that I wanted two puffy flowers; one a little bit bigger than the other. So, I drew a 3" circle and a 2" circle.

Inside each circle, I kind of drew 5 "petals". It is okay if they are not perfect (do you like all my free-handed drawings going on?! I am too lazy to make sure they are perfect).

Cut out your flower shapes.

Pin your flower to your material (or you could trace the flower onto your material and cut it out instead of pinning it). I folded my material over twice so that I could cut out 4 flowers at once. For each flower, you are going to want at least 3 flower shapes (the more your use, the fluffier your flower will be).

**Side note- for this kind of flower, make sure you are using a material that has some type of synthetic fiber in it. Cotton material will not work . . . the material I used was kind of a sheer polyester blend.

Cut out all your flowers- 3 flower shapes for each size of flower.

Now you are going to VERY CAREFULLY singe along the petals of each flower. It does not have to be perfect, but just make sure that each petal is singed enough that it won't fray and the edges are curled/rounded like a petal shape. I just use a small candle and hold the flower with my tweezers so I don't burn myself. However, some of my sisters are brave and just hold it with their hands. I have also seen people use a lighter . . . do whatever is easiest for you.

Also, don't stick the flower right into the flame- just hoover above the flame. The ends of the material will just start to melt and curl. Don't stay near the flame for too long in one spot or it will curl like crazy and possibly start on fire (I am speaking from experience!). Before you start to singe the edges of flower, maybe practice on a scrap piece of material.

Here is what my flower looked like after it was done being burned.

Singe the edges of all your flower shapes.

Now cut your tulle. I purchased a large roll of navy blue tulle at Hobby Lobby for $1.50. Each piece that I cut was 3"x 6". You will need 6 pieces of tulle for each flower (so to make my 2 flowers, I cut 12 pieces of tulle).

Take a piece of tulle and tie a knot in the middle. Then take a second piece of tulle and tie a knot on top of the other knot- when you are finished, your two pieces of tulle should look like an "X" with a big knot in the middle (like the picture). Repeat this with all your tulle- you will need 3 tulle "X"'s for each flower you are making.

Now comes the gluing- start with a flower shape. Put a tiny dot of glue in the middle and attach a tulle "X".

Put a small dot of glue on top of the tulle knot and attach another flower shape. Repeat with another tulle "X" . . .

and repeat the layers again . . .

When you have repeated the layers 3 times, you will have a crazy flower like this . . .

Trim down your tulle so that it is about the same length as your flower petals.

My necklace was totally dry by this time . . . how I love spray paint!

I attached each flower to my necklace using hot glue, but to make sure that it really stayed on there, I cut out a circle of felt a little bit smaller than my flower and glued it to the back. That flower isn't going anywhere . . .

Ta da! All finished! The whole project cost less than $5 and I like how it turned out. From start to finish it took about 30 minutes . . . not too shabby!

These flowers are also darling on their own, attached to a headband, or attached to a clip to wear in your hair.

Have a great Friday!

Camille

SixSistersStuff