DIY Floral Topiary

The moral of this topiary story is don’t let your husband play with your glue gun.

I wanted to make a spring craft, and this pretty paper flower topiary totally fills the bill. It’s made with dollar store supplies and is a really easy and quick craft project to add a little bit of spring time into your world.  But it doesn’t have to be just for spring. You can make it in any colour for any occasion. How about red for Valentine’s Day or Christmas? Or match it to the colour theme of your party.

If you want to see this demo on youtube click here

Topiary Supplies

You can buy pretty much all of these supplies at the dollar store. But I have included links for your convenience. Now that you have gathered up your supplies, Let’s make a  pretty floral topiary.

• Styro Foam Balls, 4-Inch

• Wooden dowels

• Paper Flowers

• 4″ clay pot

• craft paint to match flowers

• craft paint for pot 

• Ribbon

• Wire cutters

• Floral Foam

• Hot Glue Gun & Hot Glue Sticks

• Stones or Moss for bedding

Attach your Stem

Insert the wooden dowel into the styrofoam ball. You may need to puncture the styrofoam with something sharper than the flat end of the wooden dowel. A screwdriver or skewer works well. Try to get the dowels straight, so that the end product doesn’t look lopsided. But don’t sweat it if it’s a little bit off-centre. Don’t glue the dowel just yet. This way, if you get paint on it you can swap it out, or flip it end for end. So you don’t have paint showing on your stick. I just left the stick plain, but you are welcome to paint it, if you like.

Paint the Ball 

Craft paint works well for this. You want to match the paint that you are using for the ball to the colour of the flowers. Then if you have any small gaps showing between the flowers, you won’t notice them. It’s much easier to do this once the dowell s inserted into the styrofoam ball as it gives you a nice handle to use while you paint. I just used a dollar store paintbrush for this. Don’t go too heavy or gloppy with the paint, just enough to hide the white. Then let dry. If you are impatient, you can use a blow-dryer to speed up dry time. Do not use a heat gun as they get very hot and will probably melt your styrofoam. 

Paint the Pot

Paint the clay pot in your colour of choice. The pot will dry very quickly as it is very porous. You could do this in a corresponding colour to the flowers, or something totally different. You can use craft paint for this too. I used Rust-Oleum Metallics in Gold Mine. I LOOOOOOVE these metallic paints and use them for everything from painting furniture to crafts.

Cut your Flowers

Now you will need to cut the flowers free of the wire stems using a pair of wire cutters.. Be careful not to cut them too close to the flower or the petals will come loose. Cut all of the flowers and put them aside. You will need about 80-100 little flowers. These ones were from the dollar store and came 12 to a bag. I used about 8 bags. You can also buy these on amazon for about the same price or  maybe even less. If you were doing this for a wedding centrepiece, you would probably need more than they have on hand at the dollar store.

Attach the Flowers

To attach the flowers start at the top of the ball and then continue to work your way around in a circular motion. If you are using multi coloured flowers alternate colours as best as possible. Apply the hot glue to the styrofoam ball. If you apply too much glue, it may melt the styrofoam slightly. The paint will protect from this but don’t go crazy with the hot glue 🙂 As you are applying the flowers, keep pushing them on tight with you hands as you go, this will ensure that the topiary is nice and tight and round when it is complete. Once you have glued all of the flowers onto the ball. Give the piece a good once over to check for any open spaces. Fill any holes with flowers. Also, if you got any paint on your stem (dowel) while painting now is the time to replace it and glue it in place.

Don’t Let your Husband use your Glue Gun

Often when I’m crafting, Greg decides that he wants to play too… This is never really a good idea, as you can see from the photo below. I guess he’s exercising his artistic licence. Probably best if I finish these projects before he comes home from work 😉

Add ribbon

It is much easier to add your ribbon trim to the pot before you have inserted your topiary. Just apply a small bead of hot glue just under the lip of the pot. Attach the ribbon almost all the way around, leaving a small area unglued so that you can tie it in a bow. 

Add foam

Use a sharp knife to cut a piece of floral foam just a bit bigger than your pot. Push the foam into the pot, and fill in around the edges with smaller pieces of foam. This foam is very pliable, so when you are inserting your dowel, just go straight down, otherwise you will have some play in your topiary.

Bedding Material

Here is another place where you can add some colour or show your artistic side. Again, there are just so many options at the dollar store. I did one of my topiaries with white rocks. You could also use coloured stones or clear stones. When I was hunting around the store, I found a moss ball that I was planning on using to fill the top of the pot and then just poke the stick through it, but it was too dense in the middle. So instead I ended up cutting off pieces of it, and I placed those over the foam. These can be glued into place.

So Many Occassions

There are so many occasions where you can use these pretty floral topiaries. This one would be perfect for Valentine’s Day of Christmas. I also did another one in more spring time colours. These make a nice centerpiece for your table setting. And of course they would make a really beautiful centrepiece for a wedding. The colours can be coordinated to your party colours. And they are really not difficult to make at all. Get you girlfriends together, and grab a bottle of wine and get crafting!!

I think these are really cute, and easy to make. Even Greg liked them! 

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