Making Poppies DIY Tutorial

Vicky Kloppenborg
by Vicky Kloppenborg
3 Materials
$8
2 Days
Easy
It makes me feel good to find uses for salvaged, and reclaimed materials. Keeping anything out of the landfill is a plus.
This new poppy design was created to embellish a basket, but is durable and versatile enough to be used in a variety of ways. With longer stems it can be part of a bouquet, and/or it can be wired or glued to a canvas, a frame, etc.
Not too many supplies are needed for these fun flowers; salvaged thin metal sheeting, fiberglass window screening, thin wire, small flat bead, 8 to 10 mm glass bead, and paint. I had most of my paint colors, but did go to Lowe’s and buy one of those cute 8 oz Valspar paints, “Oh So Red”.
Like many faux poppy patterns, stacking three layers of petal pieces makes this easy. The base piece is the largest and the other two get smaller in diameter as you go up. My base was about 2 3/4″ diameter.
Before getting started, some fiberglass window screen had to be painted.   This was my first experience painting screen and it took me some time applying the paint and getting all those itty bitty squares to stay filled in; when you brush over them, they open back up. I painted in layers, drying with a fan, and discovered laying the paint on was more productive than brushing most of the time. If anyone out there has a secret or helpful hints for painting screen please do chime in.
Flatten a piece of scrap metal sheeting (as in  The Spirit of Christmas). Trace and cut out the base petal piece. Paint it red. Dry. Sand lightly with fine grit sandpaper to reveal some of the metal.
Hold the top two petal pattern pieces in place on the painted screen and cut around them.
Cut a small circle, a little larger than a quarter, from the window screening.  Darken it with black paint.
Sand the screen petal pieces with fine sandpaper to reveal the texture of the screen. Do not sand the black center piece. This is a good time to put a light black speckling on your pieces, and let it dry before spraying all the pieces with a clear matte sealer, front and back. I forgot, and didn’t speckle until my flowers were done, then had to respray them.
Trace three poppy leaves on the thin metal, flipping your pattern to trace one face down. Cut, paint green, sand, speckle, and seal.
On a board, drive a finishing nail through the stacked flower petal arrangement.  You can shape and bend the flowers first, or keep the petals flattened and shape after. Remove the nail.
Center and twist a glass bead on a length of straightened thin wire. Thread the black screen circle on to the wire stem and shape it around the bead. Add a small flat bead with a dab of E6000. Slide the other petal pieces in place, applying a small amount of glue between layers near the wire. Arrange and form the flower to your liking before pushing firmly into a piece of thick foam to dry. You can do more gentle bending, shaping, or trimming on the petals after the flowers are dry if needed.
I wired my  poppies to a basket for a pop of color, then glued on the leaves. You can change the shape of the petal a bit, the color, and the bead, and you would have a whole new look.  Another layer of petals could be added for a larger flower, or even make all your petals out of screening. Just have fun with it!


If you like crafting and creating, click on the blog link below to see more unique ideas for your garden and home. Have a great day!
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Vicky Kloppenborg
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3 of 14 comments
  • Trudi Davis Trudi Davis on May 15, 2018

    Beautiful

  • Mcgypsy9 Mcgypsy9 on May 17, 2018

    Cute idea to use the screen. These are very cute for embellishing different projects. I’m thinking maybe you could glue red tissue paper to the back of the screen before you cut the petals out to give your paint something to stick to. Hope you find what your looking for.

    • Vicky Kloppenborg Vicky Kloppenborg on May 17, 2018

      Thank You. Yes, sealing the back with paper first may help a lot. It would be sprayed with sealer, and you really only have to sand the front sides to reveal the screen texture. I think the idea of the paper on the screen is intriguing by its self. I'll have to give that a try to see what happens. May lead to new things ...

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