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Budget Bouquet for Valentine's Day
Rated by 1 member
I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm more of a spendthrift than a romantic.
A classic example is the time my husband and I were up to our eyeballs in moving boxes after a recent Navy move. Halfway through the day, we realized it was our anniversary, and that the date had completely slipped our minds. We felt a little silly to have both forgotten -- and then, after rushing over to the pharmacy, even sillier picking out cards for each other while standing side by side. So, we handed each other the cards we would have bought and read them right there in the aisle. With the money we saved, we went to the coffee shop next door for an impromptu latte date.
Expensive Valentine's Day flowers appeal to me even less than expensive cards. Fortunately, our family has a favorite craft that helps us fill our home with beautiful bouquets. This craft can be done with kids as young as toddlers and as old as teens.
Materials Needed:
Directions:
1. Fill each bowl with about 1/2 cup of water and add several drops of food coloring to each. Stir until the color is thoroughly dissolved. The more food coloring you use, the darker the color of the finished flowers will be. Set the bowls aside.
Caution: Food coloring will stain clothing. Wear old clothes and/or aprons. You may also wish to cover light-colored countertops with a plastic garbage back to guard against staining.
2. Pinch a coffee filter in the center with one hand.
3. Make a quarter-sized loop with your other hand and pull the filter through to shape it into a flower. Experiment with a few "buds" until you create a shape you like.
4. Wrap the tip of a green chenille stem around the base of the bud.
5. Using the stem as a handle, quickly and lightly dip the coffee filter bud into a bowl of colored water. The coffee filter paper will wick some of the color down toward the center, so it's only necessary to dip the buds about halfway into the liquid.
6. Set buds aside and let them dry.
Some ideas to take this craft up a notch for older kids:
Whether it's one bloom in a bud vase on a breakfast-in-bed tray or a full bouquet as a centerpiece, our family thinks these flowers are just as pretty as fresh ones. Plus, they last longer and won't break the bank!
Member Comments On…
Budget Bouquet for Valentine's Day
Everyone loves flowers but obviously these are MORE from the heart than calling FTD. I think that if we were more creative more often the kids would be less likely to say "I'm bored mom, what can I do."
3 |
Another fun way you can make a bouquet is rather than dipping each flower in the water, color the coffee filter with several different colors of markers. After you have colored the filters, spray several times with a water spray bottle and watch the colors "bleed"all over the filter. Let dry, then continue to form the flower as stated above. This makes each flower have a bright, vivid variety of colors.
13 |
Well I like the idea it's just more interesting with a picture of the finished product.
9 |
Just wanted to be the first to say "thank you" for putting a craft out there in lieu of real blooms. This being winter, 90% of V-day flowers are flown in from Ecuador/Columbia or other countries at the price of about 300 million. If you are going to buy flowers, please buy from your local farmers market or organic flowers on sites like http://www.organicbouquet.com/ or places that sell VeriFlora certified flowers (strict environmental standards/labor practices). :)
18 |
