Today I ran one of my Zoom art and craft workshops. We were making paper flowers. One of the attendees suggested using old plastic bags instead of paper and after the workshop ended, I gave her suggestion a try. The result was this outdoor peony bunting which is perfect for hanging on a shed or twining around a trellis, perhaps combined with some fairy lights. I put the finished result on Instagram and it was popular, so here is my how-to on making your own plastic flower bunting. It’s a great way to upcycle any plastic bags that do come your way, even if you try not to accept them. I don’t know why but there seem to be more plastic bags around than pre-virus.
Take a couple of white carrier bags or a bin bag and cut it into four squares. Mine are about 20cm by 20cm.
Fold each square into a triangle, and repeat, folding about four times per piece of plastic.
Draw a semi circle on to each plastic triangle, as above. It’s important to get this exactly right, or you will end up with lots of separate heart shapes rather than one lovely whole flower!
Cut it out, so you have something that resembles an ice cream cone. Do the same for your other three triangles. When you open out the plastic, it should look like the ones below….
Put the layers one on top of the other, find the central point, and scrunch them together.
You can neaten up the edges and trim off the biro line!
Staple the ‘stem’ of the flower head.
Fluff out the plastic petals. Repeat to make as many flowers as you need and then staple or pin them to a piece of brown garden string, or pretty bakers twine.
Thread through trellis, attach to a shed, and you have a waterproof bunting that will last through rain and shine.
You can also make newspaper flowers using the same technique. These look attractive sitting in tiny clay flowerpots to adorn an outside table. I quite like making flowers with the pages of gloomy headlines which dominate the newspapers at the moment….a little sign of hope, maybe.
