Blooming Intentions

  Week 14: Eucalyptus This week, I made eucalyptus because I wanted a green filler for the bouquet, and eucalyptus is my go-to for actual bouquets. I have made these before but did not love the design I used, so this time I found a different one and I think it is better. I do wish I had a better green color as it would make it a bit more realistic instead of a vivid one, but I think since the bouquet is also so bright it works fine. These were easy to make so it was semi-relaxing, although I had other assignments to work on so I did rush through them. They are commonly associated with protection, which I think is something that everyone could use with all the evils of the world. I made these by using my Cricut to cut out the leaf pairs, and then assembled them by putting a ring of hot glue around the green-dyed dowels where I wanted the leaves to sit, and then slid it down the dowel to that point. I then just bent the flowers to give a bit more dimension. And this is the FINAL bouq...

  Week 13: Baby's Breath This week, I decided that I needed a flower that was easy to make and also relatively small because I am running out of room in the vase. I ended up choosing to make baby's breath because it is my favorite filler flower. Baby's breath is commonly associated with many things, such as innocence, purity, and devotion, but I am choosing to focus on it's association with hope. Many facets of life are very stressful right now, finals week, the economy, politics, my research lab, and the list goes on. A little bit of hope right now goes a long way, so instead I will focus on the good things upcoming and try to remind myself that I am always working towards my goals. Fun fact these flowers are made out of tissues, which is really fitting because I am incredibly sick right now and have gone through almost a whole box. These flowers were fun because I like baby's breath a lot and they were relatively simple to do, so I do think they provided a boost t...

  Week 12: Crocus This week, I made Crocuses (Croci?), which commonly represent cheerfulness. This week I had three exams, so I could definitely use some cheerfulness after a week straight of nothing but doing work. I got to make these right after my Calc 3 exam with a friend, so we both got some well needed stress relief. It helped that I picked a very simple flower to make this week, so it was a lot of fun to just chat and craft. I think these flowers turned out about as realistic as paper flowers can be, so I really like how they turned out. I think starting with plain white and light yellow cardstock and then coloring them with pastels gave a really natural ombre effect. Assembly for these is really easy, starting with rolling the yellow center pieces around the green-dyed dowel. Then I added the petals, offsetting them to fill the gaps. Finally, I decided to add green leaf-like pieces to cover the final seams and transition into the dowel, creating the finished flower! And thi...