Continue from Part I…
As you probably already know, I am a cactus lover. So, to create a crepe paper cactus, especially a flowering one, was my dream and plan for a very long time. A photo of a real cactus I found online a long time ago, was inspiring me all these months… It is beautiful, isn’t it?
So, in this and the next article, I will show you step by step my way of how to make your own flowering cactus. It is not difficult. It only needs a little bit of patience.
You can also see here my suggestion for an emergency work mat – simply an office transparent plastic sleeve with a piece of white paper inside. Easy to clean, easy to mix inks and watercolours on and it clearly shows the proper colours…
Time for the thorns!
First colour your cactus leaves to make them more realistic. Some yellow, some blue. Some purple in my case…
Then with a thin pen mark the places where the thorns will be…
And using a thick, sharp needle make holes through the leaf’s body. To make this easier you can lie the leaf on a thick kitchen sponge while pushing the needle through.
The thorns themselves are very easy to make. From the remains of the coffee filters, cut pieces with this shape and twist them between your wet fingers. It is not even necessary to use glue!
Then colour them with watercolours as you wish. In my case, as seen in the photo, I coloured the middle part only and left the edges white.
Then, using the sharp edges, thread the thorns through the holes. When doing this, you need some glue to make them more stable. Put it on as the thorn is going through the hole in the leaf. Then you can also “sharpen” the edges from both sides with some glue on your fingers.
Making the cactus flowers
Here I used paper coffee filters, my Sizzix Big shot machine and my orchid dies to create the cactus flowers. As mentioned in the article about the Capsule craft – you don’t need all the dies in the world. For example, my orchid dies also allow me to make great Poinsettias for Christmas or – as now – to create realistic cactus flowers.
You also need some very simple pins…
Colour the petals…
If you have some unwanted beads at home, they will help you to create wonderful cactus flower buds. Just put glue around the pin head and thread it through the bead.
Then thread the petals on and glue them to keep the shape. Twist the tops with your fingers for a more realistic look.
See, now you have a lot of great looking cactus flowers in different stages of flowering.
Last step of creating you flowering paper cactus
I absolutely loved this moment! The moment of making the cactus burst into flower! Just stick all the flower pins in around the edges of the cactus leaves and you will have the greatest flowering cactus ever!
With these steps you can make cactus plants with only one or with many leaves. Just don’t forget, when connecting the leaves to use glue to make your plant stable. That’s it!
Be healthy! Stay home and enjoy your craft time! xoxo
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If you are looking for more easy home paper projects, why not check my article about the IKEA bag Stuffed paper animals?
Also, if present situation makes you think more about becoming independent and starting a home based business, maybe my book Work from home will be interesting for you.
I’m in love!
Thank you! ♥♥♥