In keeping with this month's theme of RECYCLING we are going to use a few unloved supplies and left-over scraps in today's post, which is a little bit of fun and a cool way to use all those odd flowers you have collected over the years!  You guessed it - we are going to alter and Up-cycle some paper flowers, because no-one likes to have random flowers hanging about that you can't use!  Keep reading and we will take a look at the basic technique and then a couple of extra ideas to really make those flowers into something special.

Begin by gathering some of your unused flowers and some scraps of ribbon or paper, flatter flowers work best, but you can also use roses and other 'shaped' flowers, you will just need to be a little bit more careful when pulling the layers apart.

Carefully separate the layers of the flowers, do this by gently pulling apart the layers with your fingers - go slowly, though if you make any holes it's easy to cover these up - just don't make any in your top layer!

Once the petals are separated, you can make your flower smaller by cutting any petal layers that are too large, down to a smaller size - use smaller flower layers as a guide if you like.

Alternatively - you can make your flowers larger by cutting out and adding larger petal layers to the flower.

Spritz the petals layers with water


and then gently squeeze any of the petals with your fingers to alter the shape.

Layer the petals to see how your finished flower will look.  If you are happy with your alterations, use glossy accents to glue the layers back together.

EXTRA OPTIONS

Still, want to customise your flowers a little more?  Then try out these ideas for extra color, shimmer and BLING!

Instead of paper - consider using ribbon, burlap, organza or any other material to create your layers.  Cut either circles, petal layers or individual petals if the piece of ribbon or material is too small!  I've used foiled ribbon to add layers between the red flower petals.

Try spraying the petal layers with Moonshadow Mist from Lindy's for a beautiful vintage look, I used Golden Doubloons.

Add a touch of Platinum Stickles along the edges for some vintage glamor!

Add a little Starburst Spray and Glitz Spritz to darken the color of your flower, I used Autumn Maple Crimson and Medieval Gold on my red flower for stunning Christmassy colors.  If you want extra BLING add some Gala Glitz and a little Diamond Dust - or a lot.

To see step-by-step exactly how I altered and up-cycled my Prima paper flowers you can watch the video below, I filmed each step and you can follow along and create your own beautiful up-cycled creations.

After doing all of these things you finished flowers may look a little something like this.

 or this....

SUPPLIES

• Prima Flowers: I used Vintage Emporium the Puccini Flower Pack
• Lindy's Sprays: Golden Doubloons, Autumn Maple Crimson and Medieval Gold
• Vintage paper
• Ribbon scraps
• Twinklets - Diamond Dust
• Art Glitter: Gala Glitz - Gold
• Stickles - Platinum