Flower Brooch Bouquet Art - #FlowerCraft

Flower Brooch Bouquet Art- #FlowerCraft

Watch Episode #301- Fields of Flowers- of J Schwanke's Life in Bloom- Here!The inspiration for this #FlowerCraft- was an art installation in the MPS Airport- it was a beautiful bouquet of flowers- created from Vintage Flower Brooches- and it was inspiring.... I'm a collector and I love vintage flower brooches- and I was always looking for a great way to display them... Obviously it's a little harder for me to wear a Flower Brooch- and this inspiration provided me with the perfect solution! Let's make some Flower Brooch Bouquet Art!I had a collection that have been curating- (Collecting) for a little while... it started with a few brooches that were gifted to me. (Truth be told- My Grandmother had a whole lot of these pins- and I wasn't interested - when she passed- so I'm not sure where they ended up... hindsight is always 20-20... I digress)... So I started looking for brooches at antique malls- and ultimately ebay- and found several that were large lots- that got me to my 'destination' faster...I got a shadowbox frame for my Flower Brooch Bouquet Art- and was able to paint the background with Design Master üBermatte Mist- this is a great paint because it has a matte finish- and it's very thick so it covers quickly with one or two coats... The Mist Color also complimented the Dupioni Silk Ribbon I got from TheRibbonRoll.com- (one of my favorite resources)... I also found the gem ribbon there too... this ribbon is actually polished plastic and it will never tarnish- so it was easy to use- and easy to adhere with low temp glue!I cut the gem ribbon into single strips- to form the stems... all this was the prep that went into this project. Then it was time for the brooches. I used my Knipex (one of my favorite tools- Get your own Pair HERE!) Having the Brooches lay flat- is key to the creation of your Flower Brooch Bouquet Art... and the backs just get in the way of making this look really beautiful!The Next step was to get the pins and clips off the pins- so I used my Knipex to cut off the backs of the pins- and earrings- I used both in the project- the Knipex cut through them like butter- and it was super easy to get the pins to lay flat... this was important so I could adhere them to the back of the frame with hot glue.I had a couple of butterfly earrings- (they look great in the Brooch Bouquet)... but I really was looking for a bumble bee pin- but no luck in my vintage searches- BUT- Enter my friend Jan Clark- from Naples Florida- I got a surprise box- with the Bumble Bee Pin you see - in this project... Jan is an amazing inspiration and always comes to my rescue- Thanks my Friend!!!Laying out the whole project first is super important- and you might really want to take your time... You want your Flower Brooch Bouquet Art to last a lifetime- so once the pins are ready- lay them out- look at them- maybe leave it be- for a day or two and come back and look again- before you start the process of laying them down permanently with the hot glue- taking your time is IMPORTANT!This project takes time- let's be honest- and it took about 2 1/2 hours to film... so I would get into your comfy clothes, get a good chair and take your time to get your pins in place- lay it out first- and then start gluing them into place... To be HONEST my Back was killing me- after 180 minutes of bending over a table... it will be much nicer to be comfy! Hehehehehe! Relax and enjoy the process... I need to practice what I preach... hehehe!Everything is glued into place with my hot melt glue gun- and thus there are glue webs-but one of my favorite tricks is using the heat gun to melt the webs- I pulled as much away as I could using a bamboo skewer (I get those at Dollar Tree- along with my frames... LOVE Dollar Tree)... and then a quick pass or two with heat gun and VOILA - all the glue webs are gone!Speaking of Dollar Tree- you could make individual Flower Brooch Bouquet Art Pictures and hang a series on the wall- or do a smaller variation of maybe just 2 or 3 of your favorites... there are lots of ways to translate this Fun #FlowerCraft... Enjoy!