Cardboard Ribbon Spool Flowers

Save those spools! Floral craft ideas don't get much more fun than this. Create your own Cardboard Ribbon Spool Flowers from Heidi Borchers and glue them to a painted background. This is a great idea for anyone that loves vibrant wall art.

Materials:

Cardboard ribbon spools (you will need one for each flower plus one for leaves and stem)
Aleene’s Super Thick Tacky Glue
Board for background (I used Masonite from a tile sample board)
Acrylic paints
Brush- 1/2″ wide flat
Buttons- for flower centers
Dimensional texture for background (I used Texture Magic)
Notched comb for texture
Aleene’s Spray Sealer – Matte or Gloss finish

Instructions:

Select several different sizes and widths of ribbon spools for this project.
To make each flower, carefully take a cardboard spool apart by removing the circle sides of the spool. Repeat with another narrower spool for leaf and stem.
You will now have three pieces for each spool. To make the flower, cut the two spool circles into a flower shape.
With second narrow spool, cut the tube to make the stem. (The ends of the spool will be used to cut the leaves.)
Smooth and press out the stem. Be sure to cut off any excess paper still remaining on the sides of the spool you tore apart.
Select several complementary colors of acrylic paint and brush onto each flower, leaf and stem. Let dry. If necessary, repeat with second coat.
Paint the center tube of the spool for the flower.
Glue the two flowers back in place on the spool center with the Aleene’s Super Thick Tacky Glue.
For the background, I squeegeed the dimensional paint over the masonite. Use a notched comb to create the lines in the dimensional paint. Let dry.
Paint the background using the acrylic paints.
Place the assembled spool flowers, leaves and stems onto the background.
Glue all pieces to the background using the Aleene’s Super Thick Tacky Glue.
Glue several sizes of buttons for the center of each flower. To seal, spray entire piece with the Aleene’s Spray Sealer. Let dry.