Porcelain-izing flowers
WHILE YOU WERE OUT... JEN CALLED.
watching tv and landed on this show where they were porcelain-izing silk
flowers. Here's the basic jist of things.
Supplies:
Petal Porcelain or other setting agent
Plastic dish such as old margerine tub
Acrylic paints
Paint brushes
Glaze (spray on... found in the craft section)
Newspaper
Styrofoam, aluminum foil
Bowl with warm water for washing hands and towel for drying
Silk flowers
Ok... I think that covers just about everything. Now then, pour the petal
porcelain stiffening agent into the plastic tub, dip in the flower. Don't
worry about the stem because it has the wire in it... but you may want to
get the leaves if they are also silk. Squeeze the flower to remove any
excess stiffening agent. Try to get as much off as possibly, I have found
that it takes very little setting agent to make the petals stiff. Stick
the stem into the styrofoam if you want them full.... or if they are to lie
flat place them on aluminum foil but move them out of the setting agent
puddle every once in a while or the puddle will stick to the flower. Not a
major problem, just trim away any excess with a pair of scissors. Allow the
flower to dry. (I let them dry overnight... a mini production line) Wash
hands whenever necessary when dipping the flowers... you can make a real
mess. Oh yeah...don't forget to lay down some newspaper on whatever surface
you are using. You can get a setting agent puddle up by prying it up but you
wouldn't want to ruin your dining room table in the process.
Next comes the painting. Use the acrylic paints to paint the petals, stem
and leaves whatever colors you want... remember you can mix colors!
Allow flowers to dry and then spray them with the glaze... OUTSIDE! The stuff
smells and could cause problems for people as well as pets.
Arrange to your liking... and viola... silk flowers have been jazzed up a bit.
Hint #1 Use white flowers so that you can see where you have missed painting
a petal.
Hint #2 Don't use a flower with floppy petals... the setting agent is too
heavy and when the flower dries it looks dead.
Hint #3 If you really want to use floppy petals... allow the flowers to dry
hanging upside down... with something under them to catch drippings.
Hint #4 Side loading... that's what they called it anyway....
you can add another color to the tip of a petal....
example... load your brush with white paint... then touch the very edge
tip of the brush to anothe color say pink... and do a couple of practice
strokes on your palet to blend in the pink with the white so that you
get a smooth transition from white to pink.
Good Luck!
Jennifer