Alrighty, you already know I am a big fan of Trader Joe's. You already know I am a big fan of recycling. Why not combine the two? You might remember my Owl Stir Sticks post from a while back. I found yet another use for those Trader Joe's bags that are stacking up in your pantry from buying too many Joe Joe's this holiday season (best things ever)! I have a beautiful client, Ali, who wants her wedding to be 100% eco friendly and I CANNOT wait to show you guys. Meanwhile, I am trying to dream up ways of using minimal cut flowers for the bouquets. Here is what I came up with. A few tissue paper flowers (check out my complete tissue flower wedding here), and a few Trader Joe's flowers, and if my bride likes it, a minimal amount of freshly cut flowers completes my vision. What are your thoughts? Do you guys have any brilliant ideas of what to add in a bouquet to make it beautiful yet sustainable?
1. Start off with a grocery bag. (love TJ's, but Whole Foods or Henry's will suffice)
2. Draw a circle (the larger the circle, the leafier the flower) and slowly taper it in to the center like a spiral keeping the lines about 1/2 inch away from each other.
3. Take your scissors and begin cutting along the line you just drew, furthest away from the center.
4. Continue cutting, following on the drawn line until you reach the center of your spiral.
5. Snip off the end of your spiral at the point that it begins to turn back into the bag (does that make sense?)
6. Beginning at the end of the spiral, start to roll up the paper until you reach the center of your spiral.
7. When you are finished rolling it, it should look like a tightly rolled up piece of paper. I know, I'm brilliant with words.
8. Place the rolled up paper in the palm of your hand and let it fall loosely apart. You may have to gently "help" it by turning the center of the flower to open it up a bit more.
9. For the stem, I chose a green pipe cleaner, but you could use your imagination and come up with something different or funky depending on your project. Flip the flower upside down, and tape the pipe cleaner to the base of the flower.
10. And here is the finished product :)
11. Add a few paper flowers and it becomes a unique bouquet!
12. And to step it up a notch, we added a few tulips and a hydrangea.
DONE :)
13 comments:
Super cute! I think you and I should both get TJ's gift cards since we just blogged about re-using their bags--I wrapped my Christmas presents with my TJ bags!
Look how creative and thrifty you are! Nice work.
OH MY GOSH! LOVE!!!
you are GOOD jesi!
xoxo
jen
Love those flowers! We've been playing around with fused plastic lately. James just did a blog tutorial on fused plastic table numbers... he's been messing with making flowers out of plastic too.
My favorite quote of the post: "When you are finished rolling it, it should look like a tightly rolled up piece of paper. I know, I'm brilliant with words." Love it, hehe.
On a more serious note, that was a fabulous, creative way to make a green bouquet - way to go! :)
So creative. I LOVE this. I think I'll make some for my apartment!
super cute idea and very environmental...
ok i just tried making these. i have a couple of quetions:
#1: when you cut the spiral, did you cut through BOTH sides of the bag or just one?
#2: i roll the spiral up and it seems to be much taller in the center than the outside. maybe the spiral is supposed to be thicker or thinner in certain parts?
help jesi!!
xx
thanks for all of the comments everyone! Jenn:
#1: I used only one side of the bag
#2: I just keep the spiral the same size...it doesn't really matter once it relaxes and unrolls...it all kind of meshes together. Especially if you want a messy look, which you KNOW I do!
love this!!!
i LOVE these! brilliant idea.
I just reposted this tutorial on my blog (with proper credit to you of course) and wanted to let you know. this may be on purpose but I couldn't find a contact link on your blog... love it though, you are definitely in my google reader. Thanks a billion!
Post a Comment